2:22 A Ghost Story – King’s Theatre, Glasgow

Written by Uncanny’s Danny Robins, the action in this modern ghost tale takes place over the course of one night in the newly purchased home of Jenny (Louisa Lytton) and Sam (Nathaniel Curtis), a house Jenny has concluded is haunted. At 2:22 every morning for the past few days, strange sounds have been emanating from the baby monitor.

The grand fixer-upper in a newly gentrified area, has obviously been bought to turn into a showpiece for the overtly ambitious, insufferable snob, Sam and in order to flaunt it to his university friend Lauren (Charlene Boyd) and Ben (Joe Absolom) her less than desirable (to Sam) builder boyfriend, they invite the pair for dinner.

Over the course of the evening the class tensions ramp up as well as Jenny’s concern about the house and the safety of her baby. As Jenny lays bare her fears, supercilious Sam rationally dismisses or counter-argues her thoughts away, but Lauren and Sam are open to a less than rational explanation of events. The tension slowly builds as they wait for the clock to tick round to the fated hour.

The acting is universally strong, Lytton is sympathetic and convincing as the exhausted new mum who is undermined at every turn by her know-it-all husband and Curtis manages to be thoroughly dislikeable as Sam. Stand out is Absolom as the quiet, working-class builder Ben, who elicits the most sympathy from the audience.