2:22 – A Ghost Story REVIEW 28 July 2023 ***

THEATRE

Written by Danny Robins

At Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne until 20 August 2023

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars: ***

This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly, 3MBS, Sat 5 Aug 2023. KH

Gemma Ward, Dan MacPherson, Remy Hii, Ruby Rose. 2.22 - A Ghost Story-pic Eugene Hyland

The surprise ghostly revelation in the last few minutes of 2:22 A Ghost Story makes the entire two hours worth the wait.

 

The play, written by Danny Robins and directed by Matthew Dunster, is set in Jenny (Gemma Ward) and Sam’s (Remy Hii) rambling, but thoroughly renovated and uncomfortably modern home that they bought from Maria, an elderly Italian woman who made them promise not to ruin the house or destroy all of her late husband Frank’s woodwork – which is precisely what they have done.

 

Jenny has been alone for days in the house with her 11-month-old daughter, Phoebe, while Sam, an astronomer, is away in a national park studying stars and has been incommunicado since day one of his trip.

 

While Sam is absent, Jenny experiences ghostly footsteps and a man’s crying emanating from her baby’s upstairs bedroom each night at exactly 2:22am. A ghost she believes! When Sam returns, he voices his scepticism as a scientist about Jenny’s ghost and criticises and ridicules her belief.

 

Jenny has invited Sam’s old university friend, Lauren (Ruby Rose), a smart but dysfunctional psychiatrist who drinks to excess, and Lauren’s latest beau, Ben (Daniel Macpherson), her builder, who never left her home after he renovated it. Over risotto and buckets of wine, the primary topic of conversation is the mysterious sounds and the likelihood of there being a ghost in Phoebe’s room. Sam, the pragmatist and sceptic, is outnumbered three to one and things get more complicated when Ben insists that he has some connection to “the other side” and sets up a séance.

 

On the realistic stage design (Anna Fleischle) depicting the living space of Sam and Jenny‘s house, time ticks away on a large digital clock above the stage, moving in real time during scenes, and in fast-forward during alarming scene changes when chilling, ear-piercingly loud screams – explained later as urban fox cries – accompany sudden blackouts. Of course, urban foxes are a phenomenon in London but rare here, so the fox reference doesn’t ring true in an Australian context.

 

Robins’ script has neat, if unoriginal plotting, fast-paced dialogue and relationships that have some backstory. The play should gallop along with the audience on the edge of its seats, but this production does not meet the potential of Robins’ writing.

 

MacPherson carries effectively the role of Ben, the blokey builder, who surprises with his history of spiritualism and staunch belief in ghosts. His is the most substantial and believable performance, while the other three actors are unconvincing, often sounding disconnected from the text so that the dialogue feels unnatural. They seem to be miscast in their roles: Rose, as Lauren, seems too “street” for the role of a sophisticated psychiatrist, while Hii’s dialogue feels awkward and pushed.

 

But, even with its shortcomings, the startling revelation in the final minutes of the production is a successful pay-off.

 

By Kate Herbert

 

 Cast: 

Ruby Rose, Daniel Macpherson, Gemma Ward and Remy Hii.

 

Ruby Rose, Dan MacPherson, Gemma Ward, Remy Hii. 2.22 - A Ghost Story-pic Eugene Hyland

Creative Team

Directed by Matthew Dunster

Co-Directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman

Set design by Anna Fleischle

Costume design by Cindy Lin

Lighting design by Lucy Carter

sound by Ian Dickinson

Casting by Michael Topple, CDG

Illusions by Chris Fisher

 

The play is produced by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, GWB Entertainment, Jones Theatrical Group, Isobel David and Kater Gordon.