2:22 - A Ghost Story

2:22 - A Ghost Story is a play by Danny Robins that blends a ghost story with a thriller. It is set to open Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in the West Village as the New York premiere of the play, in a limited engagement billed as a 13-week run.

It is an original play, not an adaptation of an earlier book, film or stage work. The producers promise laughs along with the scares and keep open whether any ghost appears. It is a commercial production by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons of Runaway Entertainment, together with Isobel David and Kater Gordon, and the Lortel hosts it under a special arrangement.

Jenny and Sam are renovating a large house they have just bought. Jenny is certain it is haunted. Sam, a hard-line skeptic recently back from a work trip, insists that every noise has a rational cause.

Jenny describes hearing footsteps and a man weeping at exactly 2:22 a.m., night after night, often through the baby monitor for her daughter's room. To get to the bottom of it, the couple hold a housewarming dinner for Lauren, Sam's old friend from university, and her new partner Ben, who believes in the supernatural. The meal turns into an argument about whether the dead can return, and the four decide to wait up for 2:22. What the night brings is not covered here.

Robins is a British writer, performer and broadcaster who began in comedy. He co-wrote the CBBC series Young Dracula between 2006 and 2014. In 2021 he made The Battersea Poltergeist and Uncanny for the BBC, and Uncanny returned as a BBC Two television series on October 13, 2023.

The play has four principal roles: Jenny, Sam, Lauren and Ben. The original London production was set in a house in Greater London, and the 2022 Los Angeles production moved the story to Boston.

As of October 2026, Anna Camp plays Lauren, Jasmine Cephas Jones plays Jenny, Finn Jones plays Sam and Martin Marquez plays Ben. Camp returns to the role she played in Los Angeles in 2022, and her Broadway credits include Time and the Conways and Equus. Jasmine Cephas Jones, an Emmy and Grammy winner, originated roles in Hamilton. Finn Jones, known for Iron Fist and Game of Thrones, is new to New York stages. Marquez is a West End actor with National Theatre credits.

The play premiered at the Noël Coward Theatre in London on August 3, 2021, with Lily Allen as Jenny, Hadley Fraser as Sam, Julia Chan as Lauren and Jake Wood as Ben. After that first run, which ended on October 16, 2021, it moved around the West End, through the Gielgud, Criterion, Lyric and Apollo theatres, and returned to the Gielgud Theatre in 2024.

The U.S. premiere followed at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in October 2022, with Constance Wu as Jenny, Finn Wittrock as Sam and Adam Rothenberg as Ben. Later productions include non-replica stagings in Singapore and Prague in 2023, a four-week season in Melbourne, a UK tour that opened at the Theatre Royal, Bath, and a Dublin run in 2024. As of October 2026, the producers count seven West End seasons, two UK tours and 30 productions worldwide.

New York previews begin on October 20, 2026, and opening night is set for November 5, 2026.