Occasionally you'll have a day out which will leave you completely inspired.
Saturday 27 July 2024 was one of those days.
I love the theatre. I have done since a young age. I think it all traces back to one night in the mid 80s when my parents took me to Norwich Theatre Royal to see Cannon and Ball. We were on the front row. Also, on the bill was a rock n'roll band. The lead singer bent down and sang directly to me. I sank into my seat! I was very shy. Whilst I was slightly terrified I was also completely fascinated by theatre and anyone on stage. How did they do that? Could I do that? From then on my favourite game to play was theatre. I'd make a stage out of cardboard box and use torches for spotlights. I loved any other school or family trips to the theatre and signed up for school plays too and much to my delight my dancing school put on shows at the Norwich Theatre Royal too. I was so excited to be on that stage!
Fast forward a number of years and my passion for theatre had stayed with me. I attended a local theatre course, joined some local theatre groups, acted in plays, took some acting exams. Also from the late 90s my friend and I started going to the theatre a lot in the West End and I'd always been to the theatre in Norwich too.
So, you're up-to-date!
Back to Saturday 27 July 2024
Gielgud Theatre
London
2.30pm
2:22 A Ghost Story
I've wanted to see this play for a long time. Firstly, I've always been fascinated by ghosts having grown up in what my sister and I always believed was a haunted house. I'm on #teambeliever but then I've always been interested in anything weird and wonderful! It doesn't mean I won't consider other explanations though, which are sometimes just as interesting! Sleep paralysis and infrasound being just two examples and I've experienced sleep paralysis twice. Both being very scary experiences but feeling very real. Secondly, I'm a huge fan of the podcast and TV series 'Uncanny' which is written by Danny Robins, who is also the writer of 2:22 A Ghost Story!
The play centres around a couple, Jenny and Sam, who have recently bought a house in London. Jenny maintains that there have been ghostly footsteps around their daughter's bedroom at precisely 2:22 every night. Joined at a dinner party by friend Lauren and her new partner, Ben, Jenny's ghostly claims split the group and they end up waiting up for 2:22 to find out the truth. The ghostly claims do not just split the group but Jenny and Sam too. One a believer, one a sceptic.
The play premiered in London in 2021 with a number of other productions in London, a UK Tour, Dublin production and Australia. Each production has seen different people taking on the roles of Jenny, Sam, Lauren and Ben. For this 2024 West End production I saw Stacey Dooley, Joe McFadden, Donna Air and James Buckley respectively.
This had also been very kindly bought for me by my friends for my 50th birthday present, so I was very excited especially with third row seats too.
I can't remember the last time I was completely transfixed by a play. I was hanging on every word, waiting for any revelations or clues. Just completely absorbed by the unfolding events and story. It felt so real.
There are quite a few jumps, but cleverly interweaved, I won't say how, but the jumps are part of it all. They provide a scare but also comedy relief too. This is a very funny play too and it needs to be, the comedy not only allows the audience to breath a sigh of relief and relax but it can also catch you off-guard too. I'm a huge fan of horror films so you'd think I'd be used to this but no! but that's the whole reason I go back for more is that they get me every time. I have to be scraped off the ceiling! When I say I'm a fan of horror it's more the 'not knowing what's going on' type of horror, rather than the gory stuff.
As the evening within the play progresses the scares build, the comedy builds and the characters start to unravel, fuelled by alcohol, tiredness and uncertainty, with their own past coming to the fore too. As the evening within the audience progresses the scares build, the audience also starts to unravel until, as I was, you're holding your breath with your hands on your face!
With big West End productions and of course a variety of very different people in the audience it can be hard to always bring the entire audience together for a completely shared experience. An experience which unites everyone. On that Saturday the whole audience were there, hanging on every word, laughing, sighing with relief, holding their breath, gasping, jumping, waiting. When you end up in an audience like that, with performers who are so comfortable with each other and at such ease on stage, it's such a great place to be. It's completely magic and you know, because it's theatre, your performance will always be one of a kind.
I left 2:22 on a complete high, my friends and I were shaking our heads in disbelief and breaking down what we'd just seen. I've bought the script, I will be pouring over every line. As I mentioned previously having been in plays myself this is literally my absolute dream play. Maybe one day!
I'm just a bit sad that it took me far too long to see 2:22 with it coming to a close in the West End, but I hope that it will return and I will be back as fast as I can run!
So, one question. Do you believe?
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