Not to be confused with the 2017 film ‘2:22’ (with which there is no similarity) 2:22 A Ghost Story is a play by Danny Robbins, which has enjoyed several international productions since its hugely popular 2021 West End premiere, and is now on a second UK tour which is visiting Liverpool Empire this week.
It joins plays like The Mousetrap, Witness for the Prosecution and Harry Potter in asking its audience to keep the secret of its ending, so there will be no spoilers in this review – which somewhat restricts what I can say about it here.
However, it is safe to say that it is indeed a ghost story, with a suspected haunting rattling Jenny and her husband Sam, with Jenny hearing strange sounds from the baby monitor at the same time in the early hours of consecutive mornings.
Jenny, played by Shvorne Marks, is trying to convince Sam (James Bye) that their house is haunted, but Sam, recently home from a business trip, is unconvinced. Enter their friends Lauren and Ben (Natalie Casey and Grant Kilburn) who arrive for a dinner party and get embroiled in the situation, with Jenny persuading them to stay into the night and hear for themselves. Ben is something of a spiritualist on the quiet, and decides to hold a séance, which leads to a classic spot of table-tilting activity that fails to convince any of them.
The play is best described as a ‘creeper’, with the gradual buildup of foreboding aided by the switching on and off of the exterior security light and the screeching of foxes outside. Perhaps the show warnings ought also to include a note that lovers of teddy bears may find some scenes disturbing… Robbins also provides us with a thunderstorm and a thick fog rolling in outside the patio doors, and scene changes are preceded by bloodcurdling screams that are gleefully added to set our nerves jangling – a gratuitous touch, but effective nonetheless.
There are two more characters, and I shall follow the lead of the show programme by leaving them nameless. They arrive towards the end of the play, bringing with them the plot twist. This is satisfying either way, whether it takes you by surprise or whether you see it coming a mile off. If you are a devotee of ghost stories you may recognise it as a classic device and, while it is dumped rather unceremoniously at our feet, it certainly answers the questions all four lead characters were asking from the outset.
The single set by Anna Fleischle is obviously designed with much smaller theatres in mind and, to be honest, the intimate and claustrophobic nature of the play feels a little swamped in this auditorium. The actors are struggling to project to the back at times, and many of the sound effects are swallowed up by the space, which may explain why the front half of the audience were the ones giving a well deserved standing ovation at the end.
Theatregoers like myself who enjoy a ‘slow burn’ of a play will appreciate the way that the script takes its time to build the characters and give them back stories, and directors Matthew Dunster and Gabriel Vega Weissman allow the dialogue space to breathe in the creeping pace of the narrative.
This is definitely for you if you like a psychological chiller that has its tongue ever so slightly in its cheek and an impish penchant for playing with its audience. If you want the full chilling effect, you may be advised to treat yourself to seats in the front stalls.
2:22 A Ghost Story is at Liverpool Empire until 11th April with tickets available here, and then continues touring through to 4th July.
Star rating: 4 stars
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L-R: Grant Kilburn, Natalie Casey, Shvorne Marks and James Bye - Picture by Helen Murray
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