2:22 A Ghost Story UK Tour Review (Buxton Opera House)

17 November 2025 I 19:30 I Buxton Opera House

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I PR - Invite

Infamous for its rotating cast of celebrities, Matthew Dunster & Gabriel Vega Weissman's sell-out production 2:22 A Ghost Story arrives to haunt the Buxton Opera House this week. With a compelling debate on the psychology of the supernatural, dialogue is the foundation to this thriller's success, opposed to special effects. Environmentally similar to The Weir (McPherson), the concept of a comfortable social setting proves the perfect host for our darkest fears.

Moving into their semi-renovated, idealist London home, Jenny hears strange footsteps from her child's bedroom every night at 2:22am. Although husband Sam refuses to believe in superstition, attempting to rationalise and subside her theories. Intensifying upon the arrival of their dinner guests, is the renovation disturbing troubled souls? Or is there something more sinister following their child...

Led by real-life showbiz couple Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton, their stage warmth and vulnerability is accelerated by their lived assurance in one another. Dooley's Jenny is nurturing and classically inviting for audiences. Her presence is instantly genuine with each mundane action, for instance loading the dishwasher feeling instinctively natural. This ease of manner is masterful in finding Jenny's humanity to later empathise with her distress.

Clifton's Sam is the ideal dramatic foil, taking a unique angle to the character as an agnostic showman, at first unnerving in a naturalist space. However given his stubborn stance on ghosts, this melodramatic excess proves a front for his own anxieties. The pair pick up on cues tremendously well, feeding off each other's tensions in climactic scenes. Credit to Matilda James & Annelie Powell CDG for unlocking the intimacy within Danny Robins' text.

The familiarity in Anna Fleischle's design allows the space to feel uncanny in nature. With comedy derived from an unresponsive Amazon Alexa, recognisable elements embedded into the set lure audiences into safety. And yet the peeling wallpaper and swatches of mould are reminiscent of the culturally recognised haunted house trope, staging a disturbed site for paranoia.

Opening scenes visually establish the group within middle-class stereotypes, exploring gentrification and socially elevated voices being those of 'reason' amidst superstition. Complete with a tight-fitting blazer and cropped ankle-exposing trousers, Grant Kilburn's Ben is informed by such costuming (Cindy Lin) with an overconfident stride. His amusing cocky attitude diminishes during Act Two's séance, with Kilburn's performance lending itself to goosebumps and heart-thumping anticipation.

Rounding off the cast, Shvorne Marks' Lauren is magnetic in her ability to positively lift an atmosphere, playing on the comedy of her drunkenness with delicately studied emotional reactions. Embracing spiritual belief, her stoicism through her Act One monologue dramatically seizes our attention, as Marks promises a transfixing Jenny as she takes over the role into 2026. The undercurrents of thundering bass, heartbeats and screaming foxes of Ian Dickinson's sound design aid in aurally defining a tone of unease.

Three years after seeing the London production with Mandip Gill and Tom Felton, this touring cast takes 2:22 A Ghost Story to new heights. It remains a commanding tribute to contemporary anxieties, inhabiting the ghosts inside each venue, Buxton Opera House being no exception with a haunted history! As one of the UK's leading paranormal experts, Robins' dive into playwrighting is a thrilling success, even more satisfying the second-time around to discover every nuance and illusion.

Touring Info & Tickets: https://222aghoststory.com/