*2:22 — A Ghost Story* is set to return to London’s West End for a strictly limited 10-week. The play will open at the Gielgud Theatre on 25 May.

The play premiered at the Noël Coward Theatre in 2020, and featured Lily Allen, Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser, and Jake Wood. A number of famous faces have gone on to star in the production, including Giovanna Fletcher, Tom Felton, Laura Whitmore, Cheryl, and Sophia Bush, among others. This run at the Gielgud marks the play's seventh West End season. ...

'2:22 — A Ghost Story' to return to the West End

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A number of famous faces have starred in *2:22 — A Ghost Story*, including Giovanna Fletcher, Tom Felton, Laura Whitmore, Cheryl, and Sophia Bush. 

A new revival of *Oliver!* will transfer to the West End this December. Lionel Bart's adaptation of Charles Dickens’s novel will open at the Gielgud Theatre.

The cast will include Simon Lipkin (*Elf*) as Fagin, Shanay Holmes (*Miss Saigon*) as Nancy, Aaron Sidwell (*The Lord of the Rings*) as Bill Sikes, Billy Jenkins (*Dodger*) as the Artful Dodger, and Philip Franks (*Art*) as Mr Brownlow. 

The production will be directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, in collaboration with Cameron...

'Oliver!' to return to the West End in December

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Lionel Bart's adaptation of Charles Dickens’s novel will have direction and choreography by Matthew Bourne. It opens at the Gielgud Theatre in December.

When someone says the words "Moulin Rouge", what do you think of first? We tend to think of the lascivious, nighttime behaviour mixed with the lavishness and luxuriousness of a sizzling nightclub. If you've watched the film and even been to visit the Moulin Rouge in Paris, you'll love [*Moulin Rouge! The Musical*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/23350-moulin-rouge-the-musical-tickets) at the [Piccadilly Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/piccadilly-theatre).

Baz Luhrmann's...

Everything you need to know about 'Moulin Rouge! The Musical' in London

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West End

Dom Simpson and Tanisha Spring play Christian and Satine in *Moulin Rouge! The Musical* in the West End. Read our guide to learn more about this spectacular show.

Nicholas Hytner’s immersive production of [*Guys & Dolls*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/25504-guys-and-dolls-tickets) has announced its final extension at London's Bridge Theatre. The show will now run until 4 January 2025.

The production, which opened at the theatre in March 2023, recently won the Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for Arlene Phillips with James Cousins.

*Guys & Dolls* stars Owain Arthur (*The History Boys, One Man, Two Guvnors, The Lord of the Rings*) as...

'Guys & Dolls' extends performances through January 2025

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Nicholas Hytner’s immersive production recently won the Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for Arlene Phillips's work with James Cousins.


Find out the full list of winners at the 2024 Olivier Awards with London Theatre. The ceremony took place at the Royal Albert Hall on 14 April.

Jamie Lloyd's *Sunset Boulevard* won big on the night, with seven awards including Best Actress in a Musical for Nicole Scherzinger for her turn as Norma Desmond, Best Director for Jamie Lloyd, and Best Musical Revival.

*Dear England, Operation Mincemeat*, and *Stranger Things: The First Shadow* all won two awards each.

Sarah Snook scooped Best...

2024 Olivier Awards: Full list of winners

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Hannah Waddingham hosted the 2024 Olivier Awards at the Royal Albert Hall. Jamie Lloyd's *Sunset Boulevard* was the night's biggest winner, and took home seven awards.

[*Heathers the Musical*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/11652-heathers-the-musical) is set to return to the West End, as part of its third national tour. It will open at London's @sohoplace for a limited six-week run on 22 May.

The musical, which is based on the 1989 film of the same name, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, follows Veronica Sawyer, a high school “nobody” who dreams of becoming popular. When she’s taken in by beautiful but cruel girl group the 'Heathers', her...

'Heathers the Musical' to return to the West End

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The musical had its European premiere at The Other Palace in 2018 and returned to the venue last year, becoming the longest running show in the venue’s history. 


Ivo Van Hove's new musical [*Opening Night*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36785-opening-night), which is based on John Cassavetes’s 1977 film and stars Sheridan Smith, is set to end its run two months early.

The show opened on 6 March and was due to run until 27 July, but the producers have announced it will now close on 18 May. 

Producers Wessex Grove said: “It is an honour to produce this beautiful new musical in the West End, and everyone at Wessex Grove is proud to have delivered...

Sheridan Smith's 'Opening Night' to finish West End run early 

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The show, conceived and directed by Ivo Van Hove, opened on 6 March and was due to run until 27 July, but producers have announced it will now close on 18 May. 

The full cast has been revealed for the revival of Jerry Herman’s *Jerry Girls* at London's Menier Chocolate Factory. The show opens on 18 May for a limited six-week run.

The musical revue, which celebrates the life and legacy of legendary award-winning Broadway composer Jerry Herman, will star Olivier Award winner Cassidy Janson *(Bare, & Juliet, Beautiful — The Carole King Musical, Wicked The Mousetrap, Avenue Q*), Lyn Paul (*Calendar Girls – The Musical, Blood Brothers, Cabaret, Footloose*),...

Full cast announced for 'Jerry's Girls' at the Menier Chocolate Factory

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Olivier Award winner Cassidy Janson will star in the musical revue, which celebrates the life and legacy of legendary award-winning Broadway composer Jerry Herman.

The full cast has been revealed for Bartlett Sher's production of the Cole Porter classic musical comedy [*Kiss Me, Kate*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/10471-kiss-me%2C-kate). The show opens at the Barbican in London on 4 June for a strictly limited 15-week run.

Joining the previously announced Adrian Dunbar (*Line of Duty*) as Fred Graham/Petruchio and Stephanie J Block (*Into the Woods, Wicked, Sunset Boulevard*) as Lilli Vanessi/Katharine, will be Josie Benson as Hattie, Jack...

Full cast announced for 'Kiss Me, Kate' at the Barbican

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The Cole Porter classic musical will play a limited 15-week run at London's Barbican Centre, and stars Adrian Dunbar and Stephanie J. Block as the leads.

It’s important to remember that in such a busy season in which plenty of plays and musicals were entirely overlooked and huge names were shut out of creative and acting categories alike, it really is a privilege for this year’s shortlist just to have been nominated. That being said, I still have plenty of thoughts.

## Best New Play
• *Dear England* at National Theatre & Prince Edward Theatre  
• [*The Hills of California*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36247-the-hills-of-california) at...

The Olivier Awards 2024: who should and who will win?

The West End’s most important night is just around the corner. Mickey-Jo Theatre takes a look at the nominees in some of the main categories, and gives us his predictions.

Ahead of [*2:22 - A Ghost Story*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/23977-222-a-ghost-story) playing a third West End season this spring, find out the quartet of actors who'll appear in the show. *2:22 - A Ghost Story* is at the [Criterion Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/criterion-theatre) from 7 May to 4 September.

Currently, *2:22 - A Ghost Story* is nominated for three Oliviers including Best New Play. [The Olivier Awards will take place on 10 April](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/2022-olivier-awards-nominations-announced). 

Tom Felton will play Sam. The award-winning actor is best known for playing Draco Malfoy in the *Harry Potter* films. Since the films, he’s appeared in projects including *The Flash*, *The Forgotten Battle* and *Save the Cinema*. Felton will make his West End debut in *2:22 - A Ghost Story*. 

 “I’m incredibly excited about getting to play in 2:22”, said Felton. “I first started acting age 6 in a local theatre group and I haven’t trodden the boards since. I love the play, I’ve taken all my family to see it & everyone leaves with a smile. I’m thrilled to be part of this summers cast and will have a lot of fun with it.”

Mandip Gill will play Jenny. Previously, Gill's TV credits include the assistant in *Doctor Who* opposite Jodie Whittaker. BEatriz Romilly will play Lauren and Sam Swainsbury will play Ben.

The *2:22 - A Ghost Story* play follows Jenny, a woman who believes her new house is haunted. In order to discover the truth, Jenny invites friends over for dinner and they stay up to 2:22am to find out what lies in the afterlife. 

In a [review of *2:22 - A Ghost Story*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/review-222-a-ghost-story-starring-lily-allen-at-the-noel-coward-theatre), our critic said: “*2:22 A Ghost Story* includes a meditation on the debilitating legacy of loss that stays with you long after the collective nervous laughter from the crowd has ceased.” 

*2:22 - A Ghost Story* is by Danny Robins and directed by Matthew Dunster. The play features set design by Anna Fleischle, costume design by Cindy Lin, lighting design by Lucy Carter, sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound.

*2:22 - A Ghost Story* is at the Criterion Theatre.

*Photo credit: Tom Felton (Photo by Muse)*

Tom Felton to star in ‘2:22 - A Ghost Story’

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Age guidance: 14+ Please note the performance contains strobe lighting, flashing lights, loud sound effects, smoke effects and periods of darkness in the auditorium.

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Genre: Play

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A spine-tingling tale returns to the West End — see it if you dare! In this supernatural thriller, something otherworldly happens every night at 2:22am. Do you believe the dead can return? Test your courage.

*2:22 - A Ghost Story* is at the Lyric Theatre from January 2023. [Find out more about *2:22 - A Ghost Story* tickets from January 2023.](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/26645-2-22-a-ghost-story-lyric-theatre)

British theatre has an impressive heritage when it comes to scary stories, so the *2:22 A Ghost Story* play follows a fine tradition. The most famous example is Susan Hill’s *The Woman in Black*, which Stephen Mallatratt adapted for stage in 1987, and which has been performed in London since 1989 — making it the second-longest-running play in West End history. We’ve also had theatrical chillers like *The Exorcist, Ghost Stories, Variant 31, Witness for the Prosecution*, and *Frankenstein*.

Now hitting the West End is *2:22 A Ghost Story*, written by Danny Robins. Robins has form in this area: he created the BBC series *Young Dracula* and two spook-tastic podcasts, *Haunted* and *The Battersea Poltergeist*. *Haunted* examines real-life experiences, from a racetrack where drivers are seemingly reanimated to parents who were convinced that a ghost was trying to kill their baby daughter, while *The Battersea Poltergeist* blends drama and documentary to investigate one of Britain’s strangest and most disturbing hauntings.

## What happens in *2:22 A Ghost Story*?

The *2:22 A Ghost Story* play features an intriguing premise. When Jenny and Sam move into a new house, Jenny is convinced their new abode is haunted. They argue about whether or not ghosts exist with their first dinner guests — and all four decide to stay up until 2:22am to confront the unknown. 

The premiere of *2:22 A Ghost Story* took palce at London’s Noel Coward Theatre in 2021. The original cast featured Lily Allen, Hadley Fraser, Julia Chan and Jake Wood. Then *2:22 A Ghost Story* returned to the West End for Christmas 2021, starring Encanto actress Stephanie Beatriz. *2:22 A Ghost Story* is now at the Criterion Theatre for 2022, its third venue in a year.

## How long is *2:22 A Ghost Story?*

The *2:22 A Ghost Story* play runs for 2 hours, including a 15-minute interval. Matinee performances begin at 2:00pm or 2:30pm, and evening performances begin at 6:00pm or 7:30pm.

2:22 A Ghost Story - LON - London Theatre

Buy 2:22 A Ghost Story Tickets showing at the Criterion Theatre, London. Choose your own seats with the best availability from London Theatre.

2:22 A Ghost Story Tickets | Criterion Theatre | London Theatre

Two couples wait to see if a ghost will appear - but maybe you'll spot it first! This spooky thriller has returned to the West End after two record-breaking runs. 
Believers and skeptics battle over the dinner table, but only you can decide if this is a haunting, or if another mystery is afoot.  
Get *2:22 - A Ghost Story* tickets at the Criterion Theatre today. 

The *2:22 - A Ghost Story* West End production continues a strong tradition of spooky fare in this famous theatre district, including the historic long-runner *The Woman in Black*, which uses traditional stagecraft to create a terrifying psychological horror experience. 

Robins’s play likewise digs into the core questions about our belief, or scepticism of, visitors from the beyond; the plot involves the couple and their first dinner party guests debating a mysterious happening at 2:22am, and deciding to stay up and face it together.

## What to Watch For:

- Danny Robins is no stranger to scary happenings. He created the BBC’s *Young Dracula* series and also two podcasts that examine the supernatural. *The Battersea Poltergeist* examines a haunting that became national news, with one house beset by loud noises and objects flying around, while *Haunted* digs into people’s real experiences with ghosts — like a spirit trying to murder a couple’s baby daughter.
- Director Matthew Dunster also has form when it comes to chilling plays. He helmed Martin McDonagh’s *A Very Very Dark Matter*, about the disturbing world of Hans Christian Andersen, and also McDonagh’s *Hangmen*, featuring the second-best hangman in England — and a mysterious stranger who wreaks havoc.
- The show features illusions by Chris Fisher. He’s a member of the Magic Circle and made a key contribution to productions like *Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* and *Back to the Future: The Musical*.
- Also featured among this all-star creative team is designer Anna Fleischle, who collaborated with Matthew Dunster on *A Very Very Dark Matter* and *Hangmen* — winning Olivier, Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard Theatre Awards for the latter. She was Olivier nominated again for the play *Home, I’m Darling* and musical *Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.*

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<a href="/actor-profile/lily-allen">Lily Allen</a> shrieks before she even says a word in <a href="/show/222-a-ghost-story">2:22: A Ghost Story</a>, which tips you off immediately as to the way Danny Robins's debut West End play is due to proceed. But the name-grabbing debut on view is, of course, singer-songwriter Allen, who was due some years back to be penning a major musical of Bridget Jones's Diary from which she parted company along the way.Instead, here Allen is, looking sleek and glam and very much forming part of the four-person ensemble that has been assembled by the director Matthew Dunster (of Hangmen renown, amongst other titles) in a putative scare-fest that is at heart the story of two couples in crisis. That shifting dynamic finds itself in thrall to numerous tropes of the genre - tricks of sound and light and sudden screams intended to elicit the same from the audience and which you'll either find nerve-shredding or cheesy, depending on your susceptibility to such things. To my mind, none of the jump-scare moments rival the frissons I recall from the comparatively undemanding likes of <a href="https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/the-woman-in-black">The Woman in Black</a>, but 2:22 A Ghost Story to its credit has far more on its mind, including a meditation on the debilitating legacy of loss that stays with you long after the collective nervous laughter from the crowd has ceased.Allen knows her way around a stage and is part of an acting family, so it's not much of a surprise that this isn't the deer-in-the-headlights moment some might have feared. (Madonna's Broadway and London stage runs, both of which I saw, have been cited by way of comparison but aren't really relevant.) In fact, Dunster keeps the actor whooshing around designer Anna Fleischle's attractive set, as Allen's character, Jenny, tries to make sense of footsteps she has been hearing in baby daughter Phoebe's room at 2:22 across successive mornings. (Quite why they don't simply bring Phoebe downstairs until the very final scene, rather than leaving her so long unattended, is left unanswered.)To try and make sense of this recurring conundrum, Jenny has enlisted over risotto and quite a lot of wine an assist from her sceptical, hyper-rationalist husband Sam (Hadley Fraser, the musicals veteran in expert form) along with Sam's longtime American psychoanalyst chum Lauren (Julia Chan) and her builder-boyfriend, Ben, who showed up to do Lauren's bathroom and evidently never left. That role seems intended as comic relief and is rather belligerently played as such by Jake Wood until such time as the character darkens and all bets are off. At one bizarre moment, Ben ends up in spiritualist mode rather like an EastEnders equivalent of <a href="https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/blithe-spirit">Blithe Spirit</a>'s Madame Arcati.Robins commendably has plenty on his mind, in marked contrast with usual shows of this kind: you don't expect societal commentary, for instance, from Deathtrap. But I'm not sure it's in the best of taste to compare ghosts to refugees, given the very real suffering experienced by the latter, and some of the angst is very clunkily expressed: "I want to be more than just a sponge," Jenny protests well into the second act, around the same time that we get the cod-philosophical "life is pointless and life is final."&nbsp;Elsewhere, Julia responds to the rising tensions by proffering herself as "Switzerland" in human form - evidence of a script that gathers humour into its fearful embrace.The evening is on stronger ground layering the strangeness on view in a stylish home whose skylight is singled out as a thing of beauty and whose sliding door seems to give way to a landscape of foxes whose piercing night cries (indices of copulation, we are told) are used several times to fearmongering effect. Add to all this a dodgy boiler, windows that seem mysteriously to open, and the unexplained presence of white spirit in the sink, and it's no wonder that Jenny is soon striding about with a hammer when, that is, one or another character isn't heard demanding the impossible from a mobile phone. (Alexa is given enough of a workout to merit inclusion on the payroll.)"This isn't The Exorcist," Sam maintains at one point, noting the absence of ectoplasm from an increasingly shouty narrative that wants to disturb on a human level well away from the familiar horror-landscape theatrics. (The film Ghost gets its own name check.) There's plenty said about the trauma of childbearing and class and marital tensions, not to mention the primacy in our psyche that is granted to fear over love, to command attention well before the sounds of thunder arrive seemingly on cue. If 2 22: A Ghost Story is remembered as the play that posited Lily Allen as a viable theatrical presence, its primary debt is owed less to the likes of, say, Andy Nyman's Ghost Stories than to the eternal challenge, at times truly fearful, that most of us will recognise inherent in simply being alive.<a href="/show/222-a-ghost-story">2: 22 A Ghost Story is at the Noel Coward Theatre to 16 October.</a>Photo credit: Julia Chan, Lily Allen, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood in 2:22 A Ghost Story (Photo by Helen Murray)

Lily Allen makes an admirable stage debut in the scary and shouty '2:22: A Ghost Story'

Photo credit: Julia Chan, Lily Allen, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood in 2:22 A Ghost Story (Photo by Helen Murray)

Read our review of 2:22 A Ghost Story starring Lily Allen at the Noel Coward Theatre at London Theatre.

2:22 A Ghost Story starring Lily Allen Review | London Theatre

Born in London in 1983, Matt Willis is an English singer and actor. 

Willis found fame as one-third of British boyband Busted. Formed in 2000, the award-winning band released tracks including “Year 3000” and “What I Go To School For."  After splitting in 2005, Willis went solo and released his 2006 album, aptly named Don’t Let It Go To Waste. The band Busted eventually came together after a decade, releasing their latest album in 2018.

In 2010, Willis made his West End debut in *Flashdance* at the [Shaftesbury Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/shaftesbury-theatre). He played Nick Hurley in the limited run, in a production which [London Theatre praised](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/flashdance-the-musical) as having "an underlying grittiness which is both realistic and convincing." The following year, he took over the role of Fiyero in *[Wicked](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/wicked)*, continuing in the production for over a year.

More recently, Willis has starred in *[Little Shop of Horrors](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/little-shop-of-horrors)* at [Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/regents-park-open-air-theatre). [London Theatre raved](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/review-little-shop-of-horrors-at-regents-park-open-air-theatre) that Willis “shows a fearless enthusiasm to play the fool and shows off a versatility of caricatures and accents, as demented dentist Orin in the first half and a host of other over-the-top figures in the second half.”  He returned to the West End to play Bob Cratchit in *[A Christmas Carol](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/a-christmas-carol-the-musical-staged-concert)* at the [Dominion Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/dominion-theatre). In 2021, he played Dr. Pomatter in the UK tour of *[Waitress](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/waitress)*.

Matt Willis - LON

Born in London in 1983, Matt Willis is an English singer and actor. Willis found fame as one-third of British boyband Busted. Formed in 2000, the award-winning band released tracks including “Year 3000” and “What I Go To School For."

Matt Willis - Stars on Stage | London Theatre

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Unbelievable

Be among the first to see the West End Premiere of this theatrical experience from September 2023.

When the Criterion Theatre first opened in 1873, the space was designed as a concert hall. The Criterion Theatre is the only West End theatre to be situated almost entirely underground — even the Upper Circle is not at street level. 

The Criterion Theatre housed comic opera in its early years, including works by W. S. Gilbert and George Grossmith. A decade after opening, the theatre had to be renovated to meet the Metropolitan Board of Works standards for ventilation. This work also saw the installation of electricity to the theatre. The building surrounding the theatre was extensively rebuilt between 1989 and 1992, but the Victorian auditorium was well-preserved and still stands today. 

Notable shows at the Criterion Theatre include *The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)* by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, the long-running play *The 39 Steps* and Mischief Theatre's *The Comedy About A Bank Robbery*.

## Criterion Theatre Seating Information

The auditorium has three levels – Stalls, Dress Circle and Upper Circle.

The front rows of the Stalls offers good views of the stage, though the seating is not raked steeply. 

The Dress Circle has specifically designated ‘restricted view’ seats due to the number of pillars supporting the Upper Circle in Row C.

The Upper Circle offers unrestricted theatre views.

Tom Felton to star in ‘2:22 - A Ghost Story’

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