Jamie Armitage will return to Hampstead Theatre to direct his new play A Ghost in Your Ear - a chilling and immersive new play using binaural sound technology made in collaboration with Ben and Max Ringham, opening at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs on 8 January, with previews from 6 December and running until 24 January 2026.
This follows the successful sell out run of Armitage’s An Interrogation which he also directed at Hampstead Theatre earlier this year with Jamie Ballard, Colm Gormley and Rosie Sheehy.
Jamie Armitage said today, “Hampstead Theatre was the ideal London home for my debut play An Interrogation and I am beyond excited to now be bringing my new show to the Downstairs venue. The intimacy of the space will be perfect for this horror play which uses binaural audio-technology to immerse the audience in the world of A Ghost in Your Ear. I feel especially fortunate to be collaborating with the legendary sound-designers Ben & Max Ringham as I have admired their pioneering work for years. My obsession with horror theatre started when I was 12 and saw The Woman in Black for the first time, so I cannot wait to share this new theatrical ghost story with audiences. I hope it scares them out of their wits…”
Full cast and creative team to be announced shortly.
Tickets go on sale to Hampstead Theatre Patrons from today, Friday 30 May, and to Friends on Tuesday 3 June. Public booking opens on Friday 6 June.
Hampstead Downstairs presents
A GHOST IN YOUR EAR
Written and Directed by Jamie Armitage
A collaboration with Ben and Max Ringham
6 December 2025 – 24 January 2026
Press night: 8 January 2026
‘The ghost is not real, it is only in your ear…’
You watch an actor arrive in a sound-recording studio.
You put on your headphones so you can listen closely as he records the audiobook of a ghost story.
Yet not every sound in your headphones can be explained. You start to fear that the horror is escaping the world of the story and coming closer towards you.
A Ghost In Your Ear is the new play from the writer/director of the sell-out Hampstead hit An Interrogation. The audience wears headphones as binaural sound technology is used to immerse them in the auditory world of the show made in collaboration with The Ringham Brothers
Health warning: this play is intentionally looking to scare its audience. If you are of a nervous disposition, then caution is advised…
Jamie Armitage’s first play, An Interrogation, opened at Summerhall, Edinburgh in August 2023, where it won the Lustrum Award before transferring to Hampstead in 2025 – playing both venues to sold-out houses. As a director, Armitage’s work includes co-directing SIX: The Musical, which is currently playing in the West End, Broadway, and multiple locations worldwide - Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical. His other directing credit include The Red & The Black (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre), Straight Line Crazy (The Shed - co-directed with Nicholas Hytner), Southern Belles: A Tennessee Williams Double Bill, And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens (King's Head Theatre), Spring Awakening, Sweeney Todd (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama) and Love Me Now (Tristan Bates). He is an Associate Director of the Bridge Theatre. He was a Resident Director at the Almeida Theatre from 2019 to 2021, and an Associate Artist at the King's Head Theatre.
Ben and Max Ringham are multi-award-winning composers, sound designers, and writers. In a career spanning more than two decades, they have created sound designs and scores for over 200 productions in the UK, West End, and Broadway. Notable productions include The Tempest/Much Ado About Nothing (West End), Prima Facie (West End/Broadway), A Doll’s House (Broadway), Cyrano (West End), and Blindness (Donmar and International). They have created a number of original works for, amongst others, the National Theatre - (ANNA, 2019, created in collaboration with Ella Hickson), and the BBC (EXEMPLAR, 2022-24, cowritten with Dan Rebellato). They are the recipients of five Olivier Award and two Tony Award nominations, two Drama Desk Awards, a Critics’ Circle nomination, a BBC Radio Drama Award, two Off West End Awards, and the H100 Award for Innovation in Theatre.
A Ghost in Your Ear
Hampstead Theatre
Eton Avenue, London NW3 3EU
www.hampsteadtheatre.com
Box Office: 020 7722 9301 (Mon – Sat 10.30am – 7pm)
TICKETS
£10-40, previews £10-35
6 December 2025 – 24 January 2026
Press night: 8 January 2026
Performances Monday to Saturday at 7:45pm
Performances on Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2:45pm
