Review: 2:22 A GHOST STORY, Theatre Royal Brighton

Four years on from its premiere at the Noel Coward Theatre, 2:22 A Ghost Story continues to unsettle audiences across the UK and internationally. The celebrity casting in this iteration of the UK tour adds a new dynamic in the form of real-life couple Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton. The Theatre Royal Brighton played host this week to this supernatural thriller that continues to deliver moments of genuine tension and theatrical flair, though not always in equal measure.

If you’ve been living under a rock and aren’t familiar with this well documented premise, 2:22 A Ghost Story unfolds over the course of a single evening. A young couple (Dooley and Clifton) has recently moved into a new home and invites friends over for dinner. As the evening progresses, strange noises and unsettling coincidences makes one of them convinced the house is haunted, while the others remain sceptical. What follows is an exploration of spirituality and doubt. The believers and the sceptics.

As a body of work, the play doesn’t feel any different to when I last saw it back in 2023. It’s one long scene split across two acts, which vary wildly in pace but do succeed in building tension, thanks in large part to the production’s technical team. The staging, lighting, and sound design do much of the heavy lifting in creating the show’s atmosphere. Shocking screams, flickering lights, and ominous underscoring punctuate the drama, ensuring that even when performances waver, the audience remains on edge.

Stacey Dooley’s performance feels authentic. She brings a grounded, natural energy to her role of Jenny, making the character’s fear and confusion entirely believable. Her instinct for realism anchors the piece, which won me over in an instant.

Kevin Clifton, on the other hand, takes longer to settle into his stride. His portrayal of Sam – a character meant to be effortlessly gregarious – begins at full volume and occasionally teeters into pantomime territory. Clifton’s charisma is undeniable, but the performance would benefit from greater restraint to let the tension breathe. That being said, he has excellent comedic timing.

Grant Kilburn returns to this production after his debut in 2023, and as Ben he injects welcome humour into the mix. His timing and delivery land consistently, earning some of the evening’s biggest laughs and providing much-needed relief amid the mounting unease.

Ultimately, 2:22 A Ghost Story is an engaging night at the theatre - if uneven in tone. Dooley’s sincerity and the technical prowess behind the production combine to deliver an experience that’s both stylish and unsettling, even if the performances occasionally pull focus in unintended directions.

2:22 A Ghost Story is at Theatre Royal Brighton until 11 October

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