A hit from the outset, supernatural thriller 2:22 A Ghost Story is touring the UK with The Wanted’s Jay McGuiness, Hollyoaks’ Vera Chok, Casualty star George Rainsford and Emmerdale actor Fiona Wade.

Writer Danny Robbins and Director Matthew Dunster here provide a behind-the-scenes insight into a show that everyone is talking about...

Hit psychological thriller 2.22: A Ghost Story is heading out on its first UK tour. Originally staged in 2021 at London’s Noel Coward Theatre, the play has since travelled - with a fresh cast each time - to LA, Melbourne and Singapore before returning to the West End.

“It’s definitely best going into 2:22 knowing as little as possible about the production,” says writer Danny Robbins (pictured), “but I can say that the story revolves around a married couple, Jenny and Sam, who are redecorating their new home, and Jenny is convinced they’re visited by a supernatural presence every day at 2:22 am.”

“They’ve invited their friends Lauren and Ben over for dinner,” adds the show’s director, Matthew Dunster, “and they decide to stay up till 2:22 to investigate what’s been scaring Jenny on previous nights... On the one hand, it’s a suspense-filled ghost story because we’re waiting with them till 2:22 as the evening ticks along, but there’s also lots of other layers to the show.”

The small-scale cast and intimate setting are clues that this is a very human story, in spite of the supernatural subject matter.

Danny was inspired to write 2.22 when a friend reportedly saw a ghost: “It really blew me away, because she’s not the type of person I’d expect to have that kind of experience. I was immediately fascinated by the idea that different people would react to her in very different ways. Some people might believe her, some might laugh at her, others would be annoyed by her. This whole range of possible opinions became the foundations of 2:22.

“I then thought, what if you distil that range of opinions into a couple, where one person believes there’s a ghost in the house and the other person adamantly disagrees. What then happens to their relationship?”

Danny has since created two BBC podcasts on similarly ghostly themes - Uncanny and The Battersea Poltergeist - both of which are directly inspired by his research for 2.22. “It’s been a totally obsessive labour of love. I pored over every single word of this play for about five years.”

Matthew was brought on board to direct the first version of the play and has been involved ever since: “I got a phone call from one of the producers, Isobel David, who asked me to read the script. I was mind-blown by the end and knew I had to do it.” Matthew was attracted not only to the spine-chilling plot but also the characters Danny had created. “The dangerous and destructive behaviour of some of the characters surprised me. It became apparent that these are real people with complex lives and complex problems, which you don’t tend to find in a ghost story.

“The play always reveals new things as very different actors take on the roles.”

Each cast is celebrated for their own unique style, and Matthew thinks this might be one of the reasons behind the show’s success.

“We cast Lily Allen in that first production, which was a really good move because it meant the play found its audience. Ever since then, we’ve had really fun, exciting and surprising casts, and that’s meant that we’ve kept finding an audience who want to be surprised and thrilled by what we’re doing.”

Matthew is now well-practiced at bringing Danny’s script to life. “My job is to make sure everybody knows exactly what they’re doing in every single second of the show, and I like that level of attention to detail. I’m always asking the actors questions and encouraging them to ask me, and each other, questions.”

Although the writer’s involvement inevitably reduces after the first run, Danny continues to take an active role in the production. “As we reached our sixth iteration in the West End this year, and as we head out on tour, my involvement does become less necessary, but it’s a project that has been life-changing for me, so it’s always a joy to come back to. I work with every new cohort of actors at rehearsals and am still a regular in the audience.”

All this comes together to produce a work of theatre that Danny maintains is not only “a jump-out-of-your-seat, spine-tingling psychological thriller, but also a really great night out”.

“And it’s a good way to get to know the person sitting next to you in the theatre as well, as you’ll probably need an arm to grab hold of for support!”

Even after six successful West End runs, the positive response to the play has shown no sign of slowing down. Matthew is keen to carry on entertaining the fans. “That’s why we keep doing it. One of the things I’m most proud of is that every time I go to see the show, the audience is just riveted from the moment it starts. I think they love it as a story.”

There is definitely something unique about sharing a scare with a complete stranger, and according to Danny, this communal experience has been sorely lacking in recent times. “After years of being separated from each other by Covid, I really can’t think of anything better than being terrified in a big group of people!”

Danny evidently has a fascination with the supernatural, but the big question is - does he believe? “I always call myself a sceptic who wants to believe, but I’m not quite there yet. I’ve never had a supernatural experience, but I have a lifelong desire to have one. I still live in hope!”

In the play, he builds tension between the sceptics and the believers, and for some, the fear takes over: “Bizarrely, I’m absolutely not scared of ghosts, but I find it really easy to plug into the fear that I pick up from people, which really helps to humanise the characters in the play.”

For Matthew, fears have a place in the real world, not with the supernatural. “I’m not easily scared. I don’t have any of those fears people seem to have of the dark or enclosed spaces... I used to be scared of dogs, but that fear disappeared overnight when I had children.”

The play treads the boundary between human relationships and supernatural fears - and Danny reminds us that it is, after all, A Ghost Story: “2:22 is an adrenaline-fuelled experience that’s both entertaining and thought-provoking. I’m sure that all families, couples, and friends who see the show will spend the rest of their evening haunted with the possibilities of the supernatural!”

2:22 A Ghost Story shows at The Alexandra, Birmingham, from 16 to 20 January, and then at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from 20 to 24 February

By Jessica Clixby