Dragon Review: 2:22 A Ghost Story – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Published on: 29 Oct, 2025
Updated on: 30 Oct, 2025

Kevin Clifton as Sam and Stacey Dooley as Jenny Helen Murray

By Ferenc Hepp

We are in a large house in London, which is not in the best order. Jenny and Sam have a lot of renovating to do.

Jenny is working late into the night and hears loud screaming at exactly 2.22am. It then  repeats every night at the same time. Sam blames the foxes in the garden, but Jenny is not convinced and it becomes a bone of contention.

In true thriller style, there are further disturbing noises throughout, including footsteps and the baby crying which can be heard via the baby monitor, but the main recurring one is the screaming,

Runaway Entertainment bring the classic thriller, 2:22 A Ghost Story, to the Yvonne Arnaud this week as part of their UK tour, which stretches into summer 2026. Written by Danny Robins, it originally premiered in the West End in 2021, where the following year it received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best New Play.

Jenny and Sam are played by real life couple, Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton. Neither are best known for their acting credits. Clifton rose to fame as a dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, and Dooley as one of Britain’s most beloved documentary presenters, and a journalist with empathetic storytelling.

But their portrayal of the main protagonists are very convincing, believable and not dramatically overplayed. The couple hosts a dinner party for Lauren, an old university friend of Sam’s, and Ben, her new boyfriend who has a belief in the supernatural.

Shvorne Marks as Lauren (left) Helen Murray

Grant Kilburn as Ben, and Shvorne Marks as Lauren are both fairly new to the professional acting world; Kilburn made his stage debut in the show during its West End run in 2023.

Sam has an instant dislike to Ben, and at various points, disagreements and arguments prevail, mostly about the paranormal, but despite the dinner party not going too well, the guests are persuaded to stay until 2.22am to try and find out the reason behind the unexplained noises.

Marks offers a balanced performance as Lauren, and Kilburn is suitably annoying as an arrogant cockney, who tries to push his ideas and beliefs onto everyone else.

The full cast with Grant Kilburn as Ben standing, left. Helen Murray

The screaming make us jump to start with, however, the more it is played, using the same sound effect, it does tend to lose its effectiveness somewhat as we start to expect it at regular intervals.

Nonetheless, tensions keep rising and the mystery deepens about the paranormal activity. A bottle of white spirit, a teddy bear which bursts into flames, and tables which move by themselves increase the intensity and the pace in the second half.

There is also a lot of humour in the piece, but we do find ourselves focused on the clock, which gradually approaches 2.22am just in time for the action to become even more chaotic.

The major plot twist at the end is very unexpected, there are cheap thrill-seeking elements that don’t amount to anything, and we leave with a lot of questions in our minds, but there is a lot of entertainment value which makes this show so popular with the audiences.

2:22 A Ghost Story runs until Saturday, November 1 and tickets are available via: www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk or call 01483 440000

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