2:22: A Ghost Story at Leeds Grand Theatre Reviewed

Features

Posted on May 13, 2026

If you think you don’t scare easily, 2:22: A Ghost Story at Leeds Grand Theatre may have something to say about that.

I headed to Leeds Grand Theatre last night for ‘press night’, to review 2:22: A Ghost Story for H&N Magazine, and while I expected tension and a few jump scares, I did not expect it to get under my skin quite like it did. The atmosphere was sustained so tightly throughout that I could still feel it somewhere in my bones long after the curtain came down.

Written by award-winning writer Danny Robins, creator of the hit BBC podcast and TV series Uncanny, this smash-hit supernatural thriller is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Monday May 11th to Saturday May 16th 2026. 2:22: A Ghost Story stars James Bye, Natalie Casey, Grant Kilburn and Shvorne Marks and is a tightly wound, cleverly staged ghost story with serious theatrical pedigree.

Its success includes three years in the West End across seven seasons, 12 replica productions worldwide, and more than 1.1 million audience members across 17 countries and five continents. This latest tour marks the show’s fourth UK-wide run.

The premise:

Jenny believes her new home is haunted. Her husband Sam is having none of it. Over one dinner party, with old friend Lauren and new partner Ben as guests, belief and scepticism collide. Can the dead really walk again? Or is something else going on inside the house?

Either way, they make a pact to stay up until 2:22.

And then they’ll know.

The less you know, the better.

That is as much of the story as I am willing to give away…

Because part of the thrill of 2:22: A Ghost Story is not just what happens, but how the production gets you there. This is a play built on atmosphere, suspicion and the uncomfortable things people say when the wine is flowing and the politeness has started to slip.

Robins’ writing cleverly laces supernatural dread with the far more familiar horrors of relationships, class, parenthood, grief, ego and the way couples can undermine each other in front of guests. It is genuinely funny, but the humour never breaks the spell. If anything, it makes the fear sharper, because the characters feel so human.

And then, just when you think you have settled into the rhythm of it, the lights shift, the sound drops, and you know (you absolutely know!) that something is coming.

A dinner party on a knife-edge

This is a four-hander that relies heavily on chemistry, and this cast delivers. Shvorne Marks is excellent as Jenny, capturing the exhaustion and fierce conviction of a woman tired of being dismissed. It was only after seeing the show that I realised Marks had previously played Lauren in the 2025 UK tour, before stepping into the role of Jenny for this run; a detail that surprised me, given how naturally and completely she inhabits Jenny’s anxious, increasingly desperate state of mind.

James Bye brings a needling confidence to Sam, Jenny’s sceptical husband. He is rational and dismissive, but not cartoonish. Bye plays him with enough charm to make Sam’s certainty believable, while allowing the cracks to appear as the night begins to unravel.

Natalie Casey is a real standout as Lauren. For many, Casey will forever be associated with Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, but here she is virtually unrecognisable (and I mean that as the highest compliment). With an American accent and a tightly wound energy, she brings humour and a brittle vulnerability to the role.

Grant Kilburn returns to the world of 2:22: A Ghost Story after making his stage debut in the show during its West End run in 2023 and is superb as Ben. He adds warmth and a working-class directness in a room full of tension and expertly balances the humour with the unease. The friction between Ben and Sam is particularly well handled by both Bye and Kilburn, building from social awkwardness into something far more charged.

A masterclass in theatrical tension

Technically, the production is razor sharp, with Anna Fleischle’s set placing us inside a stylish, half-renovated home where old and new seem to be fighting for space, a visual metaphor for a story about whether the past ever really leaves us. Lucy Carter’s lighting design is a major part of the show’s grip with sudden shifts, harsh red lighting and timed blackouts creating an alarming sense of visual disturbance that keeps the audience on edge and shapes the tension.

Ian Dickinson’s sound design is equally effective. There are standout jump scares of course, but also real eeriness comes from what sits underneath: the thuds, the silences, the baby monitor and the fox cries. The soundtrack is brilliantly judged, with artists such as Massive Attack nodding perfectly to the age and cultural world of the characters, while also building the creeping unease.

Time becomes the threat

What makes 2:22: A Ghost Story so satisfying is the suspense. It makes you wait, time stretches and the ever-present digital clock turns into a threat. The ending will, inevitably, be the thing people talk about on the way home (and I certainly won’t be the one to spoil it!). What I will say is that the production earns that conversation by making the entire journey feel taut, clever and emotionally loaded.

2:22: A Ghost Story is genuinely unsettling. This polished supernatural thriller has a strong cast, excellent technical design and a grip that does not let go when you leave your seat. In fact, you may find yourself checking the time later that night…and hoping it is nowhere near 2:22.