This review of 2:22 A Ghost Story is thanks to an exclusive invitation from besea.n and Vera Chok for Voice ESEA to watch at The Lowry in Salford, Manchester. If you have a show, event, book or film coming out that you’d like a unique review on from my perspective, please don’t hesitate to contact me for details.
Do you believe in ghosts? Well, it doesn’t matter whether you do or not, because while 2:22 A Ghost Story is not there to change your mind about it, it could make you question the logistics of both sides of the argument. But what it certainly can do is keep you on the edge of your seat and a mixture of enchanted, freaked and guessing throughout.
2:22 A Ghost Story is the award-winning horror-thriller play by Danny Robins that’s currently enthralling and spooking out audiences in London’s West End, but like most theatre shows should do, is also touring the UK. I had the pleasure of being invited to watch and review it on the opening night of its final stop on tour at The Lowry Theatre in Salford and let me tell you – as someone who is a bit adverse to jumpy shows, horrors and ghost stories – this was nothing short of boo-rilliant.
The story centres around four characters – Jenny, her husband Sam, his old uni friend Lauren, and her new boyfriend Ben (oh, plus Jenny and Sam’s unseen 11-month-old daughter Phoebe) – as they try to uncover the mystery of a supposed ghost that Jenny believes has haunted their once old and now newly renovated house for the last few nights while Sam has been away. What entails is a tense night full of accusations, arguments, and admissions as the four of them try to reason with each other about the realistic existence – or non-existent – of ghosts, with Sam being the only one who is adamant they are not real and seems intent on always being right. This prompts the other three to seemingly gang up on him and are eager – sort of – to wait until 2:22 (the exact time Jenny has heard and felt a ghostly presence in the house each night) to prove him wrong for once.
As the night goes on, strange things do occur, but how do they explain them? Is there really a ghost – and if so, who is it – or is it a cruel prank – and if so, who is behind it? Like The Mousetrap – where audiences are asked not to reveal who the murderer is after it’s been revealed – 2:22 A Ghost Story appears to have a similar untold rule, as you’ll be hard pressed to find out online without a little bit of digging.
But aside from the shock twists, two things that also stood out to me was the ESEA representation and characterisations. The two ESEA actors – a first for this play – that made up the cast were Fiona Wade (Jenny), who is half Filipina and perhaps best known for being in Emmerdale, and the lovely Malaysian Vera Chok (Lauren), who played Honour Chen-Williams in Hollyoaks. Rounding up the outstanding cast were George Rainsford (Sam), who has been in Doctors, Call the Midwife, Casualty and Holby City (not playing a medical professional for once), and The Wanted’s Jay McGuiness (Ben). But Fiona and Vera are not the only ESEA actors to have taken to the stage in 2:22 A Ghost Story, with Constance Wu, Remy Hii and Julia Chan all being in various iterations across the globe before.
Additionally, the depth of the four characters and their backstories are intriguingly nuanced and their interpersonal relationships with each other make this thriller very much a dark comedy drama too. From the rocky marriage between Jenny and Sam, the class divide between Sam and Ben, the unrequited love between Lauren and Sam, the seemingly unfulfilled relationship between Lauren and Ben, and the unlikely friendship between Ben and Jenny because of their shared unwavering belief in the supernatural, there is definitely more to this story than an unknown ghost playing tricks on their house and minds.
This goes to show that practically fully fledged and diverse characters can be played by people of any race or ethnicity, since this aspect of them is not mentioned or integral to the play. Hopefully this filters through to other shows where ESEA actors can flex their talents without worrying about whether their character adheres to a certain stereotype or trope.
The haunting, emotional and suspenseful 2:22 A Ghost Story is on at The Lowry until 15th June and at the Gielgud Theatre in London’s West End until 4th August (but it is not the same cast as above).
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