“Produced for the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Gomolvilas’s clever, multilayered play is gratifyingly subtle in its inquiry into migration—the pain of crossing over for the living and the dead alike. Liu’s direction shifts deftly among registers: comedy, melancholy, suspense, and several genuine scares, achieved with the help of some smart lo-fi effects but especially through the performances. Hirano plays an alarmingly agile ghost.”
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"Part ghost story, part family drama, this new play by Prince Gomolvilas mixes scary tactics with heartfelt emotions...Weaving the spiritual world with mental well-being, 'The Brothers Paranormal' will have you guessing what is real and what isn't until the very end. It makes for an entertaining ride but one that will also resonate with anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one."
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"Gomolvilas’ gripping thriller 'The Brothers Paranormal' which crackles with tension from start to finish...Gomolvilas’ horror film-style scenario has been imaginatively conceived for the stage by solid short scenes, smoothly imparted exposition, and humane characters that are all minutely detailed...Gomolvilas’ tremendous command of dramatic writing is matched by the entrancing and frequently scary production...It’s a fascinating, spellbinding, and heartbreaking experience."
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"Troupe and Coats, the strongest actors in the piece give a grounded, pragmatic strength and wryness to characters who could easily seem a little too long-suffering...Max is a hard character...requires a complexity in both acting and staging that Kridakorn and director Jeff Liu never quite seem to get a confident handle on...Kridakorn hits the right tone when playing Max as a desperate striver...The design elements don’t help with the tone, either."
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"A conventional ghost story blended into a chunky, hard-to-swallow smoothie with too many disparate ingredients…Over the course of two, overly long hours, a few scenes provide the kind of superficial thrills we're more used to in horror movies than in theatre…When the characters are left to themselves, without the spectral intrusions, things can be dull and talky, with mostly colorless, ploddingly-paced direction and inconsistent performances (and Thai accents) from the cast."
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"Despite a few minor glitches, I can definitely say yes. I was scared. But also moved...What makes this play special is its ability to constantly surprise us with unexpected twists and turns...It makes us feel the characters humanity. Most horror films go in for the shock value alone. This one goes a step further, allowing us to feel for three-dimensional characters. This show will intrigue and shock you simultaneously, but yet, fascinatingly, you somehow leave with a sense of hope."
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"Jeff Liu’s direction is an adroit reading of the play’s pulse, which takes its quiet, deliberative time in building to heart-racing moments but never fails to speed back up fluidly and convincingly when necessary. And the cast ably, believably, skips through the roving genres—and various, plasmatic possibilities."
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