‘2:22 - A Ghost Story is a gripping high-octane mystery that delivers way more than just a fright - it might just give you the shock of your life’ says Ryan Galpin
Halloween is just around the corner, the darkness is pressing in. Tis the season, for a scare.
Truth be told, the prospect of a fright is never one that has particularly appealed to me. Early memories of Goosebumps giving me the creeps have kind of stuck with me. Scooby-Doo and Ghostbusters offer plenty of paranormal activity for me.
So the prospect of going to see ‘2:22 - A Ghost Story’ felt a bit of a step out of my comfort zone. ‘Perhaps there would be a crime-fighting dog to keep me safe’, I hoped.
Alas, no cartoon dogs came to the rescue. But I would have swiftly rejected the prospect of escape as I found myself completely enthralled in the web of this high-octane story.
Jenny (Louisa Lytton) and her husband Sam (Nathaniel Curtis) have just bought a new house, the setting for the whole play. Mysterious activity has convinced Jenny that the house is haunted but Sam is having none of it and an argument soon swallows the couple while they host their first dinner guests, Sam’s old friend Lauren (Charlene Boyd) and new partner Ben (Joe Absolom). Lauren and Ben are soon engulfed in the argument as belief and scepticism do battle until the clock clicks ever closer to 2:22.
The sense of tension created by the story is only added to by the gripping performance of the four main cast members. The development of each character, their plights and their fears drew me deeper and deeper into the mystery.
There is a growing sense of unease. Brief pauses only add to the tension of the piece through ethereal music and the ever-present clock, ticking down to our discovery. The Mayflower may be wise to add extra padding at the edge of every seat because that’s where everyone will remain.
I left gobsmacked by an ending that completely took me for six. I’m not going to give the game away here - the only way you can find out the twist is by going to see the show! #NoSpoilers!
While some will have gone for a night of fright, the real reason this show won Best New Play at the Whatsonstage Awards and is coming off record-breaking seasons at five West End theatres, in my opinion, is the completely absorbing story.
Full of wrists and turns; one minute I was laughing at the ingenious sarcasm, and the next questioning my very belief about ghosts and reality itself. Writer Danny Robins has done an exemplary job and 2:22 A Ghost Story may well find itself spoken amongst the canon of scares: The Woman In Black, The Phantom of the Opera and Hamlet.
So, if you need a jump this Autumn, or you are in the mood for an adrenaline-filled ghost mystery - ‘who you gonna call’? Mayflower Theatre to get your tickets for 2:22 which has performances until Saturday (21st).
Book your seat here: https://www.mayflower.org.uk/
Catch Ryan every Friday at 5pm with Voice FM Drive, and on Sunday at 4pm with the South Coast Music Show
