2:22 A Ghost Story

★★★★☆     Chilling

Playhouse: Mon 25 – Sat 30 May 2026
Review by Martin Gray

The Playhouse’s resident theatre spectres take a back seat as the UK tour of 2:22 A Ghost Story grabs the spotlight for the week until Saturday.

2:22 is a simple tale set over one night. Jenny and Sam are hosting a dinner party for old friend Lauren and her new man Ben. Compliments about the way they’ve been upgrading the place, for decades the home of a widow, are soon replaced by tensions, some mundane, some decidedly eerie.

James Bye (Sam), Natalie Casey (Lauren), Grant Kilburn (Ben) and Shvorne Marks (Jenny). Pic Helen Murray.

With a new baby, Jenny has been feeling unsupported while Sam took off on a solo trip to Sark. Worse, for the last few nights the baby monitor has been relaying footsteps circling little Phoebe’s cot, and she’s heard what sounds like a man crying… always at 2:22am.

Desperate to get it off her chest, lapsed Catholic Jenny brings it up at the meal, but while Lauren and Ben listen, Sam is having none of it; rationalism is the nearest thing he has to religion, and he’s going to dismiss everyone’s theories, and worse, his wife’s real terror. In the end, the only way to get closer to the truth is for everyone to wait up until 2:22am…

a sharp four-hander

That leaves plenty of time to discuss other things that haunt people – the fear of settling for the person who isn’t perfect for you; the worry that your own identity has been crushed by a partner who always has to be right; what kind of world is this for a child?

Writer Danny Robins – recently at the Playhouse himself with the stage spin-off of his Uncanny podcast – has created a sharp four-hander, with some good one-liners to alleviate the growing terror. Yes, the jump scares provided by the screams of amorous foxes in the backyard are cheap and a little annoying, but the human interaction – and some good old-fashioned stage magic – holds the attention.

Grant Kilburn, Natalie Casey and Shvorne Marks. Pic Helen Murray

The ensemble cast do a fine job, with James Bye showing that leaving EastEnders last year after a decade as Martin Fowler was a good move. As Sam, the academic who just can’t stop lecturing, he flexes different muscles, his easy charm barely hiding a smug, controlling nature.

Shvorne Marks is terrific as Jenny, every bit the knackered new mum but refusing to be dismissed by Sam; being in a state of heightened emotion for a couple of hours must be exhausting for an actor, but Marks holds it together.

Ben the builder, who came to do work at Lauren’s place and never left, initially seems a bit of a stereotype, with his flashy clothes and Abigail’s Party accent, but Grant Kilburn skilfully peels the personality back, grabbing our sympathy.

Natalie Casey has a tough job, playing the annoying Lauren, a Californian psychiatrist whose big emotional moment comes too late to matter much. Having made such a big impression in long-running sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, it’s difficult not to listen for that Lancashire lilt.

Given there’s no particular story reason for her character to hail from the States, it’d be better were future Laurens allowed to use their most comfortable voice. As is, Casey – an excellent actress – puts in a committed, energetic performance under directors Matthew Dunster and Gabriel Vega Weissman.

James Bye, Shvorne Marks, Natalie Casey and Grant Kilburn. Pic Helen Murray.

Playhouse audiences are familiar with the failings of touring sets built to West End theatre sizes and here again we have a playing area with massive amounts of dead space at either end, which isn’t ideal if you’re not in the centre of the auditorium. It’s weird that designers don’t come up with clever ideas to extend the space, whether it’s spreading things out a little more, or in 2:22’s case, occasionally showing us the downstairs toilet that plays a part in the spookiness.

The climax of the action is quietly powerful and it’d be good were audiences allowed to sit with what they’ve seen in darkness for 30 seconds or so, rather than have the actors return, as cheery as you like, after a few seconds of curtain down.

But enough back seat producing, 2:22 A Ghost Story is a compelling piece of theatre, one that diverts while you’re watching, and provokes great conversations on the way home.

Running time: Two hours (including one interval)
Edinburgh Playhouse, 18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
Mon 25 – Sat 30 May 2026
Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Weds, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Natalie Casey and James Bye. Pic: Helen Murray.

ENDS

Tags: 2:22 a Ghost Story, Danny Robins, Gabriel Vega Weissman, Grant Kilburn, James Bye, Martin Gray, Matthew Dunster, Natalie Casey, Playhouse, Review, Shvorne Marks, Theatre