The seats at the Lucille Lortel Theater should have been equipped with seat belts for its current engagement of 2:22—A Ghost Story. Not so much because what occurs onstage is particularly frightening, but rather as a result of the frequent jump scares featuring ear-shattering decibel levels that seem designed to make us jump out of our seats. It’s a necessary device, since Danny Robins’ play, a U.K. chiller making its New York City debut, proves otherwise ho-hum.
It’s a shame, since theater audiences seem really primed to be scared these days, judging by the enthusiasm at such current offerings as Paranormal Activity and A Ghost in Your Ear. This effort tries hard, featuring everything from an onstage séance to a would-be shocking twist ending. But too much of it feels like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as if written by Rod Serling.
The story revolves around two couples who get together for a dinner party at a London home in a recently gentrified neighborhood: Jenny (Jasmine Cephas Jones), a new mother; her husband Sam (Finn Jones), just returned from a business trip; Lauren (Anna Camp), Sam’s old friend from university days; and Ben (Martin Marquez), Lauren’s new, older boyfriend.
Jenny turns out to be quite rattled, convinced that the house is haunted by a ghost who appears every evening at 2:22 a.m., the sounds of his movements and crying often transmitted from the baby monitor in her infant daughter’s room. Sam, who hadn’t been able to reach Jenny from the final day of his trip because he lost his cell phone, is highly skeptical of his wife’s beliefs, offering scientific explanations for everything she describes. Ben, on the other hand, is far more receptive, explaining that his mother was a psychic and regularly held seances in their home.
Jenny convinces her guests to stay long into the night so they can experience the ghost for themselves, with a giant digital clock on the wall ticking away the minutes to 2:22 a.m. Tensions arise during the long night, with Sam and Ben at considerable odds and Lauren becoming increasingly uninhibited the more she drinks. Sexual tension eventually rises to the fore, with Lauren drunkenly confessing to Sam that she’s been in love with him since they were in school together.
And, of course, strange things start to happen, including the baby’s teddy bear mysteriously found in the bathroom sink, drenched in turpentine. Eventually Ben decides to follow in his mother’s footsteps and conduct a séance to root out the ghost, ominously announcing, “We’re going to try and make contact!”
The would-be emotionally charged interactions are mostly banal and uninteresting. The main thing that keeps us awake are the deafening sound effects that occur with scene transitions and sometimes during the action, including sudden bursts of thunder and the loud cries of foxes outside that would seem to suggest the house is located in the middle of a game reserve.
It all culminates with a sudden revelation in the final moments that upends our perception of everything that’s come before. Unfortunately, while the twist is clever, it’s also derivative — you’ve seen it before, done better — and it’s handled in such a rushed, cursory manner it fails to make the desired impact.
It’s all slickly staged by Matthew Dunster and Gabriel Vega Weissman, with Chris Fisher’s effective illusions and the ear-shattering sound design (credited to “Ian Dickinson for Autograph”) contributing to the effect. And the performances are fine, particularly Jasmine Cephas Jones, sporting a convincing British accent, as the terrified Jenny, although Camp struggles with Lauren’s histrionics (the not-so-funny joke is that the character is a psychotherapist).
But much as it does for the characters wearily counting down the hours and minutes to the titular time, 2:22—A Ghost Story ultimately feels like a long slog.
2:22—A Ghost Story opened November 5, 2026, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre and runs through January 17, 2027. Tickets and information: 222aghoststory.com
