Leeds Grand Theatre – until Saturday 16th May 2026
Reviewed by Adam Craddock
4****
On Monday Evening I had the pleasure of being invited along to the wonderful Leeds Grand Theatre to review the latest UK Tour of “2:22 – A Ghost Story”. I have never seen this play before and have done well to avoid any spoilers despite how well hyped and respected it is so needless to say I was very excited to see what this spooky night had in store for us all. The plot follows Sam, Lauren, Ben and Jenny, two couples having a dinner party for the first time in a new house. Sam and Jenny have recently had a baby but something is spooking Jenny and well… I’ll leave the rest for you to see yourself. No spoilers here!
James Bye plays Sam, the know it all and paranormal skeptic father of the baby. Bye really portrayed his character’s ark well, starting the show as the person I myself most resonated with but slowly spiralling into being more and more needlessly skeptic, almost making himself somewhat of an antagonist at times. Shvorne Marks plays Jenny, the wife of Sam and mother of his child. Marks really shone for me, with a lovely realism to her portrayal and you really felt for her through all the twists and turns. Natalie Casey plays Lauren, the borderline alcoholic old university friend of Sam come to visit him in his new home. Casey really brought some humour to an otherwise dark show, with her inebriated performance eliciting a chuckle on a few occasions but with a sense of trauma underneath. Finally, Grant Kilburn plays Ben, the new boyfriend of Lauren who has come to meet Sam and Jenny for the first time. I loved Kilburn’s portrayal which was grounded in real working class grit and his through line as a character was possibly my favourite. The overall direction and staging of the show was top notch. Bravo!
In terms of the set I really liked what they did but (without spoiling anything) I feel like more could be done with this, although it is hard to fully elaborate without spoiling the story. The sound design was great, building tension brilliantly however I feel that more variety could be done with the actual scares, by the fourth or fifth loud noise making you jump it starts to have a diminishing effect. The lighting design was great as well, my only note being that if possible the blackout could do with being slightly darker as seeing the flood of stagehands come on stage after a big scare slightly ruined the immersion, both myself and my partner commented on this afterwards.
Overall I had a brilliant night and I was thoroughly on the edge of my seat throughout. The story definitely did not go where I thought it would and I am very intrigued to watch it again now knowing the outcome. Get down to Leeds Grand Theatre before the tour departs this Saturday.