2:22 – A Ghost Story review: Cheryl is a revelation in her acting debut

The last time I recall seeing a single-monikered popstar making her London stage debut was when Madonna tackled the role of an art dealer in David Williamson’s Up for Grabs at the Wyndhams Theatre in 2002.

She was, however, billed as Madonna Ritchie and wasn’t much cop – which didn’t come as a surprise considering how bad Madge had been in so many movies with the glorious exceptions of Desperately Seeking Susan and Evita. Still, it was a disappointment considering she’d gotten OK reviews for Speed the Plow on Broadway just over a decade earlier. I came out of the theatre thinking that she should stick to the day job.

Now we have Cheryl in 2:22 – A Ghost Story and I’m glad to say that the artist previously known as Cheryls Tweedy, Cole, and Fernandez-Versini before she became simply Cheryl in 2016 is a revelation. She’s as natural as Madonna was hesitant, generating both laughs and terror in Danny Robins’ playful horror comedy.

Unless you count a British Gas advert she did when she was seven years old, this is Cheryl’s first foray into acting and it points towards a nice new career for the Girls Aloud alumnus turned solo singer and TV talent show judge.

Cheryl plays Jenny, a new mum busy renovating the London home she has recently moved into with a husband, Sam (Scott Karim), who gets on her nerves (she calls him a “sarcastic twat”) and a baby daughter whose sleep is disturbed every night at 2:22am by what Jenny is convinced is a ghost.

Sam disputes all this paranormal activity so when his old university friend Lauren (Louise Ford) and her new boyfriend Ben (Jake Wood) come over for dinner Jenny asks that they stay until the early hours to bear witness to her worries.

This quartet proceed to get sozzled in a story that’s as much a satire about status and snobbery as it is a scare-fest, at least until the suspense is cranked up in the second act. The audience is jolted by the amplified screams of foxes in the garden, flashes of lightning, and sudden blackouts and unnerved by spooky goings-on during a seance as an on-stage clock counts up to the witching hour.

You won’t find spoilers here. Let’s just say that the twist is a clever one and it delivers goosebumps in a play that makes you scream, then scream with laughter at being so caught up in it.

If you’re a fan you’ll also be genuinely thrilled for Cheryl (just as you may have been for Lily Allen when she played Jenny when 2:22 premiered in 2021).

She might not be up there with the likes of Madonna and Cher when it comes to being a one-name pop icon but she’s a very good actress who gives much more than a one-note performance.

Rating: 4/5

2:22 – A Ghost Story is at the Lyric Theatre, London, until 23 April. Get tickets here.