2024 UK Tour Poster
2:22: A Ghost Story is a thriller by Danny Robins which had its world premier in the Noël Coward Theatre in London in 2021.
The play follows a family who has just moved into a new house which used to be owned by an old widow. However, while the husband is completely happy with the house, the wife senses something afoot. Footsteps and crying coming from her infant daughter's bedroom at 2:22 AM every night. Her husband, Sam, thinks she's going crazy, so she invites two of her friends over for a dinner party and convinces them to stay until 2:22 AM to see it for themselves. Things go south fast, and the once cozy house becomes a terrifying night. The show is currently on a UK tour throughout 2024.
The website for the show can be found here: https://222aghoststory.com/
This play provides examples of:
- A Boy, a Girl, and a Baby Family: Sam, Jenny, and Phoebe.
- Absence of Evidence: This is why Sam doesn't believe ghosts exists, despite being one himself.
- Act Break: There is an interval in the show, between the scene of Phoebe's teddy becoming drenched in white spirit, and the drinking game scene.
- Action Mom: Jenny takes on this role to protect her Phoebe from whoever is haunting the house.
- Actor Swap: Nearly every production, excluding the 2024 UK Tour, has different actors, ranging from Lily Allen, to Tom Felton.
- A Family Affair: This starts as this trope, though it quickly unravels to include their friends and their families. Even the widow's family becomes a plot point.
- A Foggy Day in London Town: The play takes place on a foggy night in Greater London.
- Afterlife Angst: What Frank (the Widow's late husband) and later Sam are said to have.
- A House Divided: As tensions rise, the house quickly becomes this.
- All Are Equal in Death: Averted. The play makes multiple points about the way spirits travelling from the Heaven or the Underworld, must travel through a portal. Most don't make it.
- All Myths Are True: At least, those pertaining to ghosts, anyway.
- Angst: Fuels most of the tension throughout the play. Every member of the cast has it in a way.
- Jenny: Sam not believing her that the house is haunted.
- Sam: Trying to prove to an non-listening Jenny that it isn't haunted.
- Lauren: Everyone else marrying all the good people, and her getting "what's left".
- Ben: Believing Jenny, but also having his story of past-lives be torn to shreds by Sam.
- Arc Number: 2:22. It's the time that Jenny hears the footsteps in Phoebe's room every night. It's also revealed to be, in UK time, the time that Sam tried to call Jenny while on his trip, but he dies in the effort.
- A Round of Drinks for the House: How do you sit around until 2:22 AM to catch a ghost? You get shit-faced.
- Artificial Intelligence: Alexa is used as a major plot point. It also foreshadows the fact that Sam is dead. While originally Played for Laughs, the fact that Alexa wouldn't hear a dead man is obvious in hindsight.
- Awful Truth: The Police use this trope when they reveal that Sam is dead. Ben, who can communicate with the dead, even admits he already knew. Needless to say, Jenny doesn't take it well.
- Back from the Dead: Frank, the old lady who used to live in Ben's Mom's house , and Sam.
- Beat: This is used after every scary part, to give the audience a chance to catch their breath while the scares take a small backseat.
- Being Watched: What Jenny feels that "Frank's" (actually Sam's) ghost is doing to her.
- Bittersweet Ending: The ghost has been proven. But her husband Sam is dead.
- Blitz Evacuees: This topic gets brought up during the discussion on past lives.
- Brand X: Averted. Uber, Alexa, and Jack Daniels are named by name.
- Break the Badass: Jenny acts in control of the whole play. Until Sam is pronounced dead, that is. Realizing that the ghost is actually her husband, she completely breaks down. Especially after her friend Ben implies that he knew.
- Bring My Brown Pants: You. This is a horror.
- Call-Back: Phoebe's bear in Act Two.
- Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: Every character, except Ben who starts the show in the bathroom, does this.
- Dead All Along: Sam. This is the twist ending.
- Haunted House: Used as the setting for the play, though the haunting is only seen towards the end.
