Young mum Jenny (Fiona Wade) is convinced her new home is haunted when she hears weird noises at the same time every night in 2:22 - A Ghost Story at His Majesty's Theatre. Picture - Image supplied by Aberdeen Performing Arts.
His Majesty’s Theatre is no stranger to ghosts – it has one of its very own in the legendary Jake, the spirit of a stagehand killed in a tragic accident now reputed to haunt backstage.
But this week a very modern spooky yarn takes centre stage at HMT with the West End sensation 2:22 – A Ghost Story, which enjoyed record-breaking runs in London.
While Danny Robins’ award-winning play is set in today’s world – things going bump in the night as a young couple renovate a house in London – its roots are very much in the classic gothic ghost stories of yore. And a chilling, thrilling tale it is.
A dinner party takes a sinister and supernatural turn in 2:22 - A Ghost Story at His Majesty's. Image supplied by Aberdeen Performing Arts.
It builds a masterful sense of brooding unease as the story unfurls, beginning with young mum Jenny hearing unexplained footsteps coming from her baby’s room at precisely 2:22am every night, convincing her the house is haunted.
Her sceptical husband, Sam, uses facts and science to dismiss her fears, but when friends visit for dinner, the debate turns to demands for proof, so everyone stays up to 2:22 to find out for themselves what is really going on.
It’s an ingenious device, allowing for chilling moments, especially as guests Lauren and Ben tell their own stories of encounters with the uncanny that raise more than a few goosebumps.
This is aided and abetted by a staging device of unexpected flashing lights and screams as scenes transition, providing the audience jump-scare moments to enhance the unsettling experience. It worked, given the shrieks and nervous laughter in the auditorium each time it happened.
Sceptical Sam (George Ramsford) tries to reassure his terrified wife Jenny (Fiona Wade) in 2:22 - A Ghost Story at His Majesty's Theatre. Image supplied by Aberdeen Performing Arts.
But the story is also a device for Robins’ script to explore many arguments around what ghosts might really be, both from the supernatural and perfectly rational ends of the spectrum, which add a degree of fascination to the frights.
And there are certainly a few of them – screaming foxes in the night, a table flying across the room, lights suddenly going out, and always the sense that at any minute a face might just appear at that rather large patio door in the converted summer room where all the action is set.
It’s great storytelling which asks a lot of its actors to get the tone right and the ensemble are spot on, from Fiona Wade as the increasingly frantic mum Jenny, George Rainsford as the rational if sarcastic Sam, to guest Ben who is more familiar with the uncanny than you first think, to Vera Chok as lovelorn Lauren who has had her own unsettling experiences.
Guests Lauren (Vera Chok) and Ben (Jay McGuinnes) find themselves in a supernatural maelstrom in 2:22 - A Ghost Story at His Majesty's Theatre. Image supplied by Aberdeen Performing Arts.
The eerie soundscape adds to the creeping tension while a large digital clock on the wall counts us down to 2:22 and the revelation of exactly who is haunting the home. And that is… something you will have to find out for yourself.
As the cast took their bows messages flashed up on the set saying in big red letters: “Shhh… please don’t tell.” So I won’t.
What I can tell you is that 2:22 – A Ghost Story is an excellent night of chills, one that Jake himself would approve of.
2:22 – A Ghost Story is at His Majesty’s Theatre until Saturday March 2. For more information and tickets visit here.
Review by Scott Begbie