By Sabrina Caires
Watching Ghost Quartet is a bit like watching The Matrix or Black Mirror. For a while you’re not too sure what’s going on, but you’re certain it’s going to be great. As Ghost Quartet unfurls like a web of stories across four generations, the audience is given as many questions as they are answers. Essentially, it’s an exploration of the human preoccupation with ghosts – are they real? Do we want ghosts to be real? Who haunts us?
Composer, lyricist, and performer Dave Malloy has a knack for choosing great venues. Not the biggest, not the sparkliest, not the newest, but nonetheless the greatest. He is best known for his Broadway hit Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, which received 12 nominations at the 2017 Tony awards with a slew of unique factors driving its success. Apart from the casting of renowned vocalist Josh Groban as Pierre, Great Comet’s set was like nothing Broadway had seen before. The theatre was all a stage, with actors delivering some of the scenes whilst seated at tables with the theatre-goers. And even with Ghost Quartet, which didn’t go to Broadway and is more song cycle than musical, Malloy has hit the nail on the head with his staging.
This particular 2015 performance took place at the McKittrick Hotel in New York City. It’s a venue known for its unique theatre spaces which allow for the ultimate audience immersion. Perfectly suited to a show about ghost stories, the low lighting completes the intimate effect. The cast is scattered around the room, with audience members sitting around the perimeter and some even seated centre stage, in a circle on the floor.
The audience is led to put the pieces of the puzzle together and start forming their own theories about who the characters are and how they are linked across so many generations. A highly effective example of this comes early in the performance during the track “The Camera Shop” when Rose Red (Brittain Ashford) sets out on a quest. She must collect “One pot of honey / One piece of stardust / One secret baptism / And a photo of a ghost.” The lyrics go on to explain how she finds the honey, the stardust, and completes the baptism, then the track ends. So, the question lingers – how does she get a photo of a ghost? Towards the end of the performance, when the cast introduces a track titled “The Photograph” the audience is on the edge of their seats, eager for answers. What happens next won’t disappoint. Ultimately, Ghost Quartet’s unusual and fragmented structure is immensely rewarding.
If you’re familiar with Great Comet you might also recognise some of the names which form the Ghost Quartet – Gelsey Bell, Brent Arnold, Brittain Ashford, and Dave Malloy – an ensemble that floats between instruments as they please in this 1.5 hour production. The actors break the fourth wall by announcing each track title and conversing with each other throughout the performance. Each performer is ridiculously talented – Arnold nimbly switching between instruments and masterfully plucking a cello, Bell’s ability to wield her voice in uncanny ways, and Malloy on piano, the lyrical genius behind it all. However, it is Brittain Ashford’s folk-tinged vocals which are completely disarming. On “Hero”, the audience is treated to a solo performance where all the shades of emotion in Ashford’s voice take centre stage.
Gelsey Bell is able to manipulate her voice in every which way, from soaring operatics in the heart wrenching “Usher pt. 2” to piercing screeches in “The Photograph”. As far as the music goes, much of the eerie tone of the soundtrack can be attributed to her vocal effects. The impact of this is furthered by Malloy’s tendency to use dissonant tones in his music. Despite lovely hints of generic influences like folk in “The Astronomer” or the jazzy piano in “Four Friends”, Malloy’s composition is never conventional or predictable. The electronic influences which appear across his discography emerge in tracks such as “Every Kind of Dead Person” but are nowhere near as prevalent as they were in, say, Great Comet.
Lighting is used very sparingly here – in fact, for almost 20 minutes towards the end, the stage is in complete darkness following a track called “Lights Out”. Simple lighting changes are used to signify set changes, and the minimalist approach again enhances the sinister atmosphere. Throughout the show, the lamps and wall lights flicker as if to signal the presence of ‘ghosts’ on stage.
This, combined with the intimate scale of the venue itself makes the online viewer wonder what it might have been like to witness Ghost Quartet in person. Malloy’s preference for making theatre a personal and interactive experience is enough to make viewers long for the thrill of live theatre once again. The audience is handed xylophones and maracas so that they themselves become part of the creation of the soundtrack. During the track “Four Friends”, a murmur of laughter ripples through the audience as the cast sings about different types of whiskey being their best friends. Shot glasses and a bottle of Jameson are handed around the audience. The cast has impeccable comic timing, and their conversation flows naturally. Ghost Quartet is a reminder of all that makes live theatre what it is – the camaraderie, the suspense, and ultimately, the joy.
Dave Malloy’s Ghost Quartet is available to watch on YouTube here.
The Dialog 