Writer: Danny Robins
Directors: Matthew Dunster and Isabel Marr
Sam and Jenny seem to have it all. As the play opens we see their new home that they are busy renovating. But is all well in the house? While Sam is away on a work trip to Sark, Jenny is woken by strange noises from their infant daughter’s bedroom but can find no obvious cause. This recurs at the same time each morning – 2:22 am – until Sam returns. On his return, they host a dinner party for Sam’s oldest university friend, Lauren, and her new squeeze, Ben, and Jenny tell them of her experiences. While Ben is inclined to believe Lauren, Sam, a physicist, pooh-poohs her suggestions that something is amiss. And so the foursome finds itself spending an uncomfortable evening waiting for 2:22 …
Danny Robins’ writing is tight, guiding us through the evening as tensions rise and each character deals with it – or fails to – in their own way. The direction from Matthew Dunster and Isabel Marr is largely understated – there are some jumpscares, of course, but they do seem a touch half-hearted – so we are free to observe the impact on each character as the evening unfolds and Sam finds it ever more difficult to convince the others that rational explanations must exist. While it does initially feel a little slow as the characters are established, it quickly settles down and the tension is ratcheted up bit-by-bit, almost imperceptibly, and the intertwining relationships move and twist like sea currents as layers of façade are gradually removed. The whole is supported by Anna Fleischle’s open set, perfectly capturing the feel of a house mid-renovation, sporting a large digital clock that enhances the anticipation as it ticks through the evening towards 2:22.
George Rainsford as Sam and Fiona Wade as Jenny spar extremely well as she becomes ever more agitated that he simply doesn’t believe her tale of weird happenings; while his frustration that the others seem incapable of taking his point of view is shown believably. Both paint a picture well of a relationship in freefall as their positions become hardened. Vera Chok’s Lauren is perhaps the most complex character with the most layers to peel – we really feel for her as the evening progresses, while Jay McGuiness brings us the apparently down-to-earth everyman Ben – the polar opposite to Sam and the butt of his sarcastic barbs. McGuiness’ accent might not be convincing, but his portrayal of Ben, with his simplistic attempted rebuttals of Sam’s arguments, is.
And, of course, as with all the best mysteries, after the dénouement there’s the realisation that there is an inevitability about the outcome that Robins, Dunster and Marr, magicians all and at the top of their games, have created – and the feeling that it will definitely repay a second viewing.
Runs until 24 February 2024 and on tour