|
|
|
|
|
Stacey Dooley as Jenny with Kevin Clifton as husband, Sam. Pictures: Helen Murray. 2:22 A Ghost Story The Alexandra Theatre **** Danny Robbin’s tale of mounting tension and ghostly goings on at a London dinner party brings plenty of chilling moments, this time haunting Birmingham as part of its UK tour. Premiering in 2021, the play has been cleverly marketed and makes a point of featuring celebrity casts to ensure good box office. Lilly Allen took on the role in West End, followed by personalities like Laura Whitmore, Chery Cole and Giovanna Fletcher. It’s a bold move by Producers but also a commercially sound one as clearly they know that social media followers have a significant effect on ticket sales. Like it or not, that is the way of the world now. The latest in the line of Jennys is TV Presenter, Stacey Dooley who is joined by real life (and onstage) husband, Kevin Clifton. Neither have extensive acting clout but they do have prime time appeal. In the world of touring theatre, that is a major pull factor. The play itself is a clever piece of writing, integrating classic ghost story elements as it reaches it’s ingenious and inevitable final twist. Sudden screams, forbidding underscoring, back story reveals….the ingredients are all there.. It’s less ‘ shock horror’, more developing tension... and time is given to explore the relationships between the four characters. There are laughs too, giving it a dark comedy feel at times and serving as a welcome relief from the rising intensity.
Ben, Grant Kilburn and Lauren, Shvorne Marks. Characters are roundly formed and played off each other well. Jenny (Stacey Dooley) clashes with husband Sam (Kevin Clifford) on the existence of the supernatural.. According to Sam, everything has a rational explanation. Jenny is less convinced. Their dinner party guests, Lauren and Ben (Shvorne Marks and Grant Kilburn) have their own backstories and intentions, adding more layers and intrigue to the tale. The Technical stagecraft is timed to perfection and volume on sound effects is turned up to 11, providing several gasps of shock from the audience. It’s a well used horror convention - we all know there will be a visual or audible shock at some point but we don’t know quite when . . . keeping us firmly on the edge of our seats until it actually happens. Dooley works hard and is especially effective in her physicality. Always attending to bits of business to distract from her anxiety - moving urgently from kitchen to lounge, filling glasses, filling the kettle, tending to her guests yet getting more neurotic as the booze kicks in and 2:22am approaches. Vocally, on occasion, she is a little quiet and lines are slightly swallowed which sometimes pulls the energy away. It's a big ask for someone relatively new to stage acting, especially given the amount of dialogue she has to carry. There are moments of humour between the fear, largely from dinner guest, Ben who breaks up the tension between Jenny and Sam with some nicely delivered observations. Lauren is played with just the right pace and intention, giving some calmness and control to the scenes. The strength of this play lies in its structure and its storytelling. It’s about what might happen, what is around the corner. Less, as they say, is so often more. Don’t expect The Exorcist - but that doesn’t mean you won’t feel shivers. Tense, edgy and full of the fear factor. With Halloween approaching, it’s the perfect time to get scared! Tom Roberts 13-10-25 |
|
|
|
