Ghosts can’t be real – can they? Head and heart differ in this smart, modern ghost story that is becoming a familiar theatre fixture.
Writer Danny Robins has carved out a niche as a paranormal presenter and writer, particularly as frontman for podcast Uncanny, with his 2:22 A Ghost Story debuting in 2021.
Since then it has been performed round the world, with its West End residency featuring some celebrity casting, and is now on its fourth UK tour.
This current run sees former EastEnder James Bye as Sam, the ultra rational husband of new mum Jenny (Shvorne Marks), as they host a dinner party for Sam’s old friend Lauren (Natalie Casey, of Hollyoaks and Two Pints of Lager…) and her newish partner Ben (Grant Kilburn).
Strange things have been happening in the house for the past few nights – always at 2:22 – and the quartet end up agreeing to stay till then to find out whether the explanation is supernatural or scientific, exorcising a few relationship ghosts along the way.
Even on a repeat watching the show remains thoroughly entertaining, with Robins’ script managing to be funny, scary, and clever all in one. The cast throw the light banter around convincingly enough (once you’ve got over Casey’s incongruous American drawl at least), and Marks and Kilburn particularly deal well with the darker aspects of the tale.
The production rather than plot create much of the tension, with sound effects and screeching scene changes keeping the audience on edge, but there is a creeping menace in the storyline that pays off rewardingly at the end – exactly how you’ll need to see the show to discover.
Robins has created a modern classic that brings the ghost story right up to date. Go see it, and take someone to hold your hand.
- 2:22 A Ghost Story continues at Norwich Theatre Royal until 31 January 2026, then touring nationally including Cambridge Corn Exchange, 22 to 27 June 2026. Danny Robins’ Uncanny tour dates include Norwich Theatre Royal on 8 March 2026 and Ipswich Regent on 6 March 2026.
