2.22, A Ghost Story

Ghostly Delights

2.22, A Ghost Story

by Danny Robins

Runaway Entertainment at the Apollo Theatre, West End until 17^th September, then on tour until 25^th May 2024

Review by Andrew Lawston

From A Christmas Carol to the works of M.R.James, via Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black, it is notable that many of the most enduring ghost stories are now period pieces, full of sputtering gas lamps and other Victorian or early Twentieth Century trappings.

In this respect, 2:22 A Ghost Story is a breath of fresh air.  The play takes the staple ghost story setting of an old Victorian house in which an old widow has spent long years grieving for her husband, and instead shows a contemporary family stripping away all the details of yesteryear in order to create a modern dream home.

Jenny and Sam invite their friend Lauren to see their new home and meet their eleven-month old baby.  Lauren brings along her new boyfriend Ben, a builder who grew up in the area.  It quickly becomes clear that all is not well in the house.  Lapsed Catholic Jenny believes the house is haunted, and that their daughter is in danger, while rationalist Sam insists there is a scientific explanation for the strange and troubling events that take place each night at 2:22am.  Ben sides with Jenny, while Lauren wavers between belief and rationalism.

The quartet decide to wait until 2:22 to see what, if anything, will happen.  The tension ratchets up further as the night wears on, and the four characters reveal more about the experiences that have helped them arrive at their respective positions on the supernatural.  Writer Danny Robins expertly adds just enough jokes to break the tension at key moments, while constantly raising the stakes.  Director Matthew Dunster keeps the pace taut, and produces wonderful performances from all of his talented cast.

Jaime Winstone plays Jenny, a stressed mother struggling to settle into a new home.  As with all the characters, Jenny has hidden depths, and Winstone arguably goes on the longest journey within the play, while always remaining the most identifiable character to the audience.

Sophia Bush breezes in wearing an elegant trouser suit as Lauren, a psychiatrist and Sam’s university friend.  Bush’s American accent fits effortlessly into a very British production, and while she seems to be the most level-headed character throughout most of the play, she gives a subtle performance that signals some of the story’s later twists and turns without ever overplaying her hand.

Clifford Samuel plays Sam, and he is arguably the production’s greatest asset.  While Sam’s “I think you’ll find” science-based pedantry is irritating from the outset, and becomes outright antagonistic at various points during the play, Samuel keeps the character relatable and likeable, a man who is trying to hold his family together in bewildering and increasingly frightening circumstances.  At times his attempts to explain apparently supernatural events begin to start desperate, and Samuel makes sure the audience can see the character’s terror through the rational bravado.

Ricky Champ rounds out the quartet as Ben, a working-class man quietly appalled at the area’s gentrification.  While Ben appears to be the comic relief for much of the play’s first half, his impassioned rant against what he sees as erasure of working-class culture by bland middle-class homogeneity is a stand-out moment.

The cast perform on a set that is a perfect recreation of a certain kind of modern suburban home, interior walls knocked through, polished floorboards, kitchen-island, coffee table, all these elements are present and correct.  The outer fringes of the set reveal traces of the house’s previous owners, however.  The doorframe is only half-painted.  An ancient heater sits alongside one wall to stage right, complete with peeling wallpaper.  A huge set of double doors lead out into the garden, where Ben frequently disappears to smoke.

Also highly prominent in Anna Fleischle’s set are two digital clocks.  These display the time in red glowing digits, inexorably ticking down towards 2:22.  The red digits are also mirrored by a lighting effect which boosts the jump scares that punctuate the play.

While 2:22 A Ghost Story is at heart a character piece examining the beliefs and attitudes of the central cast, it is also a highly entertaining story that lives up to its promise of scares and shocks.  The suspense is palpable, and lighting and sound effects are frequently employed to keep the audience on their toes.

This new cast for 2:22 A Ghost Story is a powerful ensemble who look more than ready to take a great play to new heights.  It is a hugely enjoyable production, and while captions at the end of the show implore audiences not to give away the ending, suffice it to say that it is fitting and powerful, and in hindsight you realise what a tightly-constructed play you’ve just watched, even the lines that appeared to be the most ridiculous of running gags reveal their importance in hindsight.  Unmissable stuff.

Andrew Lawston, May 2023

Photography by Helen Murray