The perils of going to see something just because you like an actor in it…loved seeing Elliot Cowan onstage again, was significantly less keen on 2:22 – A Ghost Story
“There’s something in our house. I hear it every night, at the same time.”
I wasn’t fussed enough about 2:22 – A Ghost Story to see it first time around, featuring Lily Allen’s stage debut at the Noël Coward, and I only really went to see this recast transfer at the Gielgud because of the presence of Elliot Cowan and the chance to see Stephanie Beatriz for the first time.
And my general feelings about horror on stage were somewhat vindicated, in a show whose first half is often stultifying. Sam and Jenny have moved into a house she believes is haunted and at a dinner party with their neighbours, they wait for the titular time when the paranormal is due to strike.
And it is a whole lotta waiting, which Matthew Dunster’s production does little to counter. Too many genre tropes are used as cheap tricks and once we finally get to the point of revelation, it’s a bit anticlimactic. Well acted to be sure but just not my cup of tea.
