The West End hit ghost story visits Leicester in the midst of its UK tour.
2:22- A Ghost Story is written by award-winning writer Danny Robins, creator of the hit BBC podcast The Battersea Poltergeist, and is directed by Matthew Dunster.
The spooky atmosphere is set from the start with a digital clock circling through the hours until it hits 2:22 with a startling red light and bloodcurdling scream putting you on edge from the start.
Anna Fleischle’s set is the image of domesticity; modern kitchen contrasted by peeling wallpaper. It’s a vision of normality; Ben and Lauren visit new parents Sam and Jenny for a long overdue dinner, all is well even if Sam and Lauren are a bit too close for comfort for their respective partners. Until Jenny (Louisa Lytton) shares she thinks she’s been hearing footsteps in the baby’s room while Sam (Nathaniel Curtis) has been working away. Sam and Ben (Joe Absolom) are both abrasive characters, equally determined to be correct about the existence of ghosts while Lauren (Charlene Boyd) plays the diplomat balancing loyalties and drinking her way into a stupor to avoid the conflict. Jenny is a sympathetic character, ignored and undermined by her smarmy husband, as she pleads for attention and declares a vigil to determine the source of the mysterious noises coming through the baby monitor. The script asks questions around the paranormal – why are people so desperate to believe, and are they really a haunting or reassuring presence…
The cast guide the audience with skill, capturing the dynamic of a close-knit group, easing the crowd into dinner time conversation and minor bickering, only to amp up the ante and conflict with divisive beliefs and intermittent fox shrieks. The team give such an utterly convincing performance that in spite of having seen the show previously I was lured into believing the narrative; although there’s nothing like hindsight to spot the clues entwined in the script.
While the weather is remiss of traditional horror movies, all fog and lightning, Ian Dickinson’s soundscape and musical undercurrents mean that even in the calmest moments, the audience remains tense, on edge for the latest scream or revelation.
It’s not scary enough for nightmares, but the sense of dread you may leave with goes to show that no matter how rational the explanation, it can’t defy gut feelings.
2:22 is at the Curve until 11th November, find out more here:
https://www.curveonline.co.uk/whats-on/shows/222-a-ghost-story/
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Katie Reviews 