Lily Allen will make her West End debut in August when she stars alongside Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood in 2:22 – A Ghost Story.
The play is written by Danny Robins, best known for his podcast The Battersea Poltergeist which is currently being made into a TV series.
Directed by Matthew Dunster (Hangmen, True West), 2:22 – A Ghost Story will open at the Noël Coward Theatre on 11 August (previews from 3 August).
Billed as an “edge-of-your-seat, supernatural thriller”, the play centres on Jenny (Lily Allen), who believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam (Hadley Fraser) isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren (Julia Chan) and new partner Ben (Jake Wood). Can the dead really walk again? They decide to stay up to 2.22 to find out…
As a singer-songwriter Lily Allen has had a string of hits including “Smile”, “LDN”, “The Fear” and “Littlest Things”. Julia Chan’s screen credits include horror film Silent House; Hadley Fraser’s many West End credits include Les Miserables, The Winter’s Tale and City of Angels; and Jake Wood is best known for the role of Max Branning in EastEnders.
Lily Allen said: “I am so excited about getting to work on this play. The live performance aspect of my career has always been the most thrilling part for me, connecting with a group of individuals and the spontaneity of whatever happens on the night.
“I feel that stepping into this play is an exciting natural extension of that and affords me the best of all worlds. I get to explore mature subject matter, be a woman with a real point of view and show the West End audiences how much I love live performance and being in front of an audience.”
Danny Robins added: “I’m thrilled to be making my West End debut with this jaw-dropping cast and Matthew, one of the most exciting directors in British theatre. Anyone who’s heard The Battersea Poltergeist will know my fascination with the question “do ghosts exist?”, so 2:22 has been a labour of love, exploring the clash between belief and scepticism through a couple’s relationship.”
2:22 – A Ghost Story features set design by Anna Fleischle, costume design by Cindy Lin, lighting design by Lucy Carter, sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound, casting by Jessica Ronane CDG and illusions by Chris Fisher.
It’s produced by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Isobel David and Kater Gordon.
“This show is not scary enough to cause nightmares, nor is it gruesome or graphic or gory; it’s more human than the creepiest horror movies. But there are genuinely chilling moments, scary enough that the whole theatre is tense and pin-drop quiet. Scary enough that sections of the play have a beat afterwards for the audience to catch their breath. Scary enough, perhaps, to have you turn on the light the next time you hear an unusual sound at night, just to check the time.” ~ The Guardian ★★★★
“Matthew Dunster directs the whole thing with a macabre playfulness that comes to the fore in Ian Dickinson’s magnificently unsettling sound design.” ~ Time Out London ★★★★
“I kicked myself that I didn’t see the final twist coming, but it’s brilliantly done. This is a superior, knowing piece of genre drama, well-executed, and buoyed up by Allen’s star power and skill. A great, spine-tingling night out.” ~ The Evening Standard ★★★★
The Independent ★★★★
The Telegraph ★★★★
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