Review of 2:22 A Ghost Story at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

2:22 A Ghost Story continues an endless rise and run of success on the stage. This play by Danny Robins was first staged as recently as August 2021 at the Noel Coward Theatre and since then the show continued to run in London for two years, moving to four further London theatres, before eventually closing in the city to embark on this tour, which began in September last year. During these runs, the cast has constantly been updated with often populist actors, and some, which are not even associated with acting. As this reaches Royal & Derngate, now even the touring cast has been swept clean and four further performers take on the incredible success of a show.

This is the second time I have seen 2:22 A Ghost Story, and it is safe to say that on that first viewing, with the previous tour cast, I was not as blown away by the play as the success seemed to warrant. The aforementioned populist casting seemed to have driven a so-so ghostly tale into success beyond its quality, and with this new group of stars of TV and music, that casting still goes on.

Not to say that there is anything wrong with the performances of Vera Chok, Jay McGuiness, George Rainsford, and Fiona Wade. In fact all four work much better as a group than the previous touring cast, which was championed then by an excellent performance by Joe Absolom as Ben. Playing this role now, is McGuiness, more familiar to most no doubt as a member of The Wanted, or maybe even more by winning Strictly Come Dancing. Having been mostly seen on stage to date in musicals, here he shows a nice ability to create the often uncomfortable in his environment, but likable builder. The girlfriend of Lauren (Chok), Ben is first to complain about being called "mate" and more believing than most of the tales of ghostly encounters. Chok as Ben's girlfriend is played effectively, plowing the course of alcohol and pills and descending coherance as the night goes on. She, sometimes, sides against the ghostly tales, but as events develop, she and all, can deny the situation no more.

Completing the characters are the married couple, owners of the house, Jenny and Sam played by Fiona Wade and George Rainsford respectively. Rainsford is edgy, dynamic, and often a constantly moving character, set in his ways, and a strong disbeliever of the tales that his wife keeps peddling. This often results in a confrontation, and it is often very believable between Rainsford and Wade and much less, dare I say, shouty, than my previous encounter with the characters. Wade even manages to give Jenny a great deal of depth and you feel, genuinely her despair and concern at her lack of control over events, which constantly spiral to that 2:22AM moment in time.

Production and technicals are generally excellent, with Anna Fleischle's set a feast on the eyes with many things dotted around to revel in. It does, however, get enveloped a little on the stage of the Derngate, and would have suited the Royal stage so much more, for both size and the beautiful atmosphere that theatre would create for the play. However, looking around at the packed audience, sadly the little old Royal would not have provided the number of seats for such a show.

The lighting design from Lucy Carter is perfect and offers some good moments of moodiness, and this coupled with some effective sound design from Ian Dickinson does create a great deal of atmosphere. Sadly however the constant inclusion of shock tactics in both sound and lighting at the scene ends sweeps away at that ambiance that had been built. Subtlety is perfect when it comes to a ghost story, and sadly 2:22 does not have any of that.

As perhaps expected, the play has a nice little twist which is very much guessable for those keeping an eye on things, and oddly enough, improved my enjoyment of the play on the second viewing as a result of knowing the twist.

2:22 A Ghost Story does enough in this incarnation to warrant its continued success. There is some atmosphere and nice performances, but, those expecting a creepy evening of theatre, may come away thinking they have got more of a kitchen sink drama than a ghostly encounter.

Lacking in ghostly atmosphere, but still an entertaining couple of hours of theatre.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Wednesday 10th January 2024 at the Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton.

2:22 A Ghost Story runs at Royal & Derngate until Saturday 13th January 2024.

For further details about the Royal & Derngate and to book tickets see their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk

Photos: Johan Persson