Entertainment
2:22 – A Ghost Story to spook once more the Gielgud Theatre
The cast prepares for the return of 2:22 – A Ghost Story to London’s West End.
Running for a strictly limited 10-week season at the Gielgud Theatre, where the second cast of the show performed in 2020/21, the season also runs concurrently with the hugely successful and record-breaking UK tour which concludes in Salford in June, and a Dublin season at 3Olympia Theatre, which will perform from 20 June – 22 August. This means that the shows will be running concurrently in Manchester, then Dublin and London…
At the time of announcing 2:22 A Ghost Story has been seen by over 690,000 people in 18 UK cities including London, plus international seasons in LA and Melbourne. This second Gielgud Theatre run will be the show’s 7th West End season.
Donna Air will play Lauren and Joe McFadden will play Sam with Stacey Dooley as Jenny, in her stage debut, and James Buckley reprising the role of Ben.
Joe McFadden:
‘I’m really stoked to be returning to the West End in this much-loved, hit show and its latest production at the Gielgud Theatre with this fantastic cast. It’s a beautifully crafted script that has plenty of scares and is hilarious in places and I can’t wait to see what audiences make of our version.’
2:22 A Ghost Story January 2024 production
Stacey Dooley:
‘Delighted to be involved in the next adaptation of 2:22! Made up! I fell for the play when I went to watch it in 2022. All 4 characters feel so familiar, which means the subtle ‘ghost story’ just works so brilliantly. Can’t wait to bring Jenny back to life! Let’s go!’
Written by award-winning writer Danny Robins, creator of the hit BBC podcast The Battersea Poltergeist, and directed by Matthew Dunster and Isabel Marr; 2:22 is an adrenaline-filled night where secrets emerge and ghosts may, or may not, appear…What do you believe? And do you dare discover the truth?
Jenny believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben. Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is getting closer, so they’re going to stay up… until 2:22… and then they’ll know.
James Buckley, who first played the role of Ben during the first run at the Gielgud Theatre in 2021/22:
‘I’m so excited to be rejoining the cast of 2.22. It’s such a brilliant play and to be back in such a brilliant theatre. It will be great to be play Ben again and now all I need to do is make sure I remember the lines. Can’t wait to see everyone there’.
2:22 A Ghost Story – 2023 production
The production premiered in 2020 at the Noel Coward Theatre, starring Lily Allen, Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser, and Jake Wood, where it won the WhatsOnStage award for Best Play.
It then transferred to the Gielgud Theatre for 10 weeks, starring Stephanie Beatriz, James Buckley, Elliot Cowan, and Giovanna Fletcher, which completed its run on 12 February 2021. For the first season at the Criterion (May – September 2022), the cast included Tom Felton, Mandip Gill, Sam Swainsbury, and Beatriz Romilly, the second Criterion season starred Laura Whitmore, Matt Willis, Felix Scott, and Tamsin Carroll.
The box office record-breaking run at the Lyric starring Cheryl, Jake Wood, Scott Karim, and Louise Ford, concluded its run on 23 April 2023. The West End season at the Apollo Theatre starred Sophia Bush, Ricky Champ, Clifford Samuel and Jaime Winstone before Frankie Bridge took over from Sophia Bush in the role of Lauren.
2:22 A Ghost Story then set off on a UK tour in Autumn 2023 with Joe Absolom, Charlene Boyd, Nathaniel Curtis and Louisa Lytton in the cast. The current cast for the second leg of the tour includes Vera Chok as Lauren, Jay McGuiness as Ben, George Rainsford as Sam and Fiona Wade as Jenny.
Donna Air:
‘I’m so excited to be playing the role of Lauren in one of my favourite plays in the West End – 2.22. I’m looking forward to getting back on stage and seeing you all there!’
2:22 – A Ghost Story By Danny Robins, Directed by Matthew Dunster & Isabel Marr. Gielgud Theatre, Shaftesbury Ave, London W1D 6AR / 0344 482 5151
