I’m actually, literally, physically shaking. The play at The Players’ Ring in Portsmouth ended three hours and nine minutes ago, and I am still shaking. I find myself stopping to take deep breaths, or waving my hands, trying to shake it off, but this feeling of terror has so thoroughly invaded my body, there’s no getting rid of it. And it is freakin’ orgasmic.

The playwrights (Jacquelyn Benson and Heather Bourbeau), actors and director of “Interference” decided up-front that they were going to tell—in up-close, personal, graphic details—a scary story. To do that, they had to go to some deep, dark, daunting, petrifying, ghastly and harrowing places. And, God love each and every one of them, not one of them backed off so much as a millimeter. As a writer myself, I hold original scripts up to a microscope, and the team of Benson and Bourbeau delivered the goods with such skill and grace that I will give them the best compliment one writer can give to another: I’m completely jealous I didn’t write this.

Just give me a second to make sure the door is locked and that there’s nothing under my bed. (I know there’s nothing under my bed, but tonight, I figure, if I keep checking, I’ll be sure.) I am still this shaken, and I’m still diggin’ it. Fear, after all, makes you feel absolutely alive, almost like you’re on fire. Grateful. Giddy. Hungry for everything. This play—from the script to the direction to the actors—makes you feel all of that, and then some.

Jason (G. Matthew Gaskell) and Max (Matthew Scofield) are paranormal investigators, and they’ve been hired to investigate some strange things at The Players’ Ring. (Yes, they set the play in the actual theater in which it’s playing, which was not only fun, but brought us right into the lion’s den—brilliant choice.)

Jason springs it on Max that a biochemistry student from Alabama named Lucinda (Joi Smith), who happens to dabble in both the psychic realm and ice-skating, will be stopping by. Oh, and so will Sarah (Liz Krane), who happens to be the love of Max’s life, but packed her shit and split while he was at work two years ago. No note, no explanation, no email, and suddenly her cell phone number wasn’t valid. The fact that all of this happened after the suicide of Max’s best friend since childhood, Jake (Andrew Nowacki), makes the blow that much harder. In fact, he still hasn’t been able to delete Jake’s number from his cell phone.

When Sarah does show up, the actors do a brilliant and hilariously awkward dance, as long-split couples do when re-acquainted. But, suddenly, a message that manifests on tape stops the jocularity dead (pun definitely intended). And that’s just the beginning. Max is about to find out a whole lot about the people he thought he knew best in the world—who, it turns out, are different people entirely.

Every actor onstage is a genius in his own way. Scofield and Krane both have an intelligent sincerity that brings reality to the otherworldly script, as does Gaskell’s brilliant comic timing—matched well by his counterpart, Smith. Nowacki’s task is perhaps the hardest of all, and he comes through with flying colors of every shade.

Director Andy Fling found an amazing, original script that took huge risks, which paid off at every turn. He’s proven himself as a director time and again, but his greatest strength is making you forget you’re watching a play. He casts his stories so well that I found myself—and other people in the audience—physically and vocally responding to the situation. He offers something for every single one of the audience’s senses. His work is completely seamless. People have won Tony Awards for lesser pieces of art.

In my last review, I told you not to miss “Spirits Willing.” Now, I’m telling you that you cannot miss “Interference.” It lights a fire inside you that is just too excruciatingly delicious to pass up.

Interference runs through Nov. 4 at The Players’ Ring, 105 Marcy St, Portsmouth. Showtimes are Friday and  Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. Call 603-436-8123 for reservations.