Punctuated by piercing screams with a masterful script – thrill seekers will rejoice at this modern ghost story
Tense, intimate and passionate – 2:22 written by Danny Robins is the latest Ghost Story to hit the West End and has brought the genre right into the 21st century.
With an all star cast and its new venue, the beautiful underground Criterion Theatre, the show induces jumps, giggles and lots of screams.
The play predominantly takes place during a dinner party at the work-in-progress home of Sam (Tom Felton, Harry Potter) and Jenny (Mandip Gill, Dr Who). They are joined by Sam’s oldest friend, Lauren (Beatriz Romilly, Macbeth), and her new beau, Ben (Sam Swainsbury, Fishermans Friends).
The home in question, designed by Anna Fleischle, is stunning by utilising the whole stage the cross section gives the illusion of being a fly on the wall in a real home. The set is full but not cluttered complete with a functioning fridge and kettle which heighten the realism. The clever use of a movement sensor on the back porch is exploited throughout the play to increase tension.
2:22’s premise is a simple one – during the dinner Jenny reveals at 2:22 every evening, for the past week, she’s been experiencing paranormal phenomena; a piece of information imbued to the audience in a startling opening scene. The cast explore the revelation throughout multiple scenes each punctuated with an ear piercing scream and a burst of bright light and two digital clocks showing the passage of time.
The first half definitely showed signs of a new show opening with cues slightly missed and relationships not fully formed but the cast and writing settled in during act 2.
That being said Sam Swainsbury was certainly a stand out – confident, believable, with an attractive swagger ‘Ben’ seemed to be the pin solidifying the cast.
I was wondering if the casting of Tom Felton could’ve been problematic; often actors known for a specific role can prevent the audience connecting to them in a different role. Felton’s commitment to the smart-ass Sam assuages those fears and the audience easily relaxes into believing his ‘better than you’ role.
Danny Robins’ storytelling is clever, witty and easily allows the audience to understand the characters, leading the narrative creatively to a climax no-one saw coming. The natural dialogue shrewdly plays off expected tropes of the genre whilst contrasting with jokes, and comedy to temporarily relieve the constantly building tension. With a run time of 1hr40, I would query the choice to have an interval – it feels like the tension and climax could be more intense without a 20 minute break.
One of my favourite things about this production is the way lighting and sound design is used to immerse the audience. Particularly Lucy Carter’s magical use of auditorium lighting to compliment the scenes/moments throughout the play – an effect you wouldn’t get with the latest Netflix thriller. The sound design includes a sassy Alexa and a baby monitor although a slight criticism of the sound design would be the loud ‘red herring’ fox noises; used as a shock factor the audio is very intrusive and seemingly unrealistic.
So to sum up – if you’re a thrill seeker, a ghost story lover or enjoy sitting on the edge of your seat this show is definitely worth seeing. Enjoy…if you dare.