"2:22 A Ghost Story" by Danny Robins.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

I love a good spooky story, especially at the theatre, and this is one that I have not seen, until tonight.

Jenny believes her new home is haunted, she hears things in the house at the same time every night via their new baby's baby monitor, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben about the existence of ghosts. Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is getting closer. So they’re going to stay up until 2:22….and then they’ll know.

Fiona Wade, who if you're an "Emmerdale" fan, like I am, you'll instantly recognise, plays Jenny. Fear and determination mixed with a mother's protective attitude drives Jenny to prove that she is right about what she has heard, and to make Sam believe. 

A lot of people dismiss soap drama actors, but every actor that I know from soap dramas have proven that they are brilliant stage actors, and Fiona shows the passion is just as strong live on stage. She injects fire into the performance and you can see the fear in her eyes while playing Jenny. the timing she has with George, especially in the argumentative scenes have split second timing.

George Rainsford, of "Call the Midwife" and "Casualty" fame plays Sam. You can really believe that Jenny and Sam are married because there's a really natural chemistry between the two characters. George is absolutely adamant that ghosts do not exist and provides just as much scientific proof of their non existence as Jenny provides to back up what she hears. Sam is very opinionated where Lauren's partner Ben is concerned, and when Ben initiates a seance to contact the Frank, the man who had died in the property before Sam and Jenny bought the property, and started ripping out the old and updating the place, something that Ben, a builder, is against.

Lauren is played by Vera Chok. Lauren works in the medical section, and knows a bit about the psyche of the human mind. She believes in ghosts, as does Ben; both having experiences with the supernatural in the past. This means that only Sam is a non believer, we're not quite sure about Alexa though! No wonder Lauren wants to empty every wine glass because she gets increasingly nervous about the whole situation, especially after her experience with the white spirits - no pun intended - and a teddy bear in the bathroom (or is that Cluedo?).

Local lad and The Wanted star, Jay McGuinness plays Ben. I've seen Jay before on stage and is a really confident actor, and as Ben, he brings a lot of the comedy to this thriller. Ben is a Cockney so isn't afraid to voice his opinions over Sam, especially when Sam left Ben to pay for the wine from the local off licence. There's been a very smooth transition from boy band star to stage actor, and an actor who delivers a very convincing accent and line of comedy. This may be of course because Jay is a former Midlands Academy of Dance and Drama (MADD) student, and having seen MADD's output quality, it really does not come as a surprise to me about the quality of Jay's singing and acting talents.

There are several jump scares but what I loved about this play is the creeping menace feel that you get throughout the story, but the story has a lovely comic element as well, which makes the scary elements even more unexpected and jumpy when they arrive.

The play is written so cleverly that throughout the play you are provided with every bit of information you need, but at the time you don't acknowledge the clues drip fed to you until you look back after the show and dissect why things did, or did not, happen. Was the seance scene staged? Was the table pushed? If so how do you explain the last movement of the table? Just ask Alexa!

Directed by Matthew Dunster and Isabel Marr, who made sure that the sections created to make you jump, did just that, and that includes the sudden loud screams and music and the stage blackouts framed by the blinding red lights. The security lights that kept coming on outside and the sounds of the foxes. It's not many plays that can start with a couple of minutes without speech and still hold your attention, but this is one.

Anna Fleischle's set design is stunningly good, the sort of design you could very happily inhabit. The kitchen diner living room with the bathroom/toilet is in the process of being updated. The floor to ceiling glass doors at the back lead out to a garden shed and garden overlooked by security lights. There's a full ceiling and over the right hand side of the set are big skylights which allow the lightning to illuminate the room from different angles.

Lighting design is by Lucy Carter, and whether it be the lightning, the lamps or candles, the stage blackouts or the red framing lights, they all bring the desired affect to create an uneasy and eerie feeling.

Sound is by Ian Dickinson, and as with the lighting, the thunder crashes, the foxes howls or the sound from the baby monitor, and at one stage Alexa having a mind of her own, you either jump at the sudden loud noises or you get the creeps from the music that grows in the background. Both sound and lighting work brilliantly together to create that menacing and unnerving atmosphere.

The illusions are by Chris Fisher, and I will not spoil this section of the production by telling you what to expect!

There is an age guidance of 12+, just in case any parent wants to take a younger child, and then moans to the staff that they weren't warned; believe me I know that happens!

"2:22 A Ghost Story" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 11 May.

Alexa post my review on Facebook............Alexa, I said post my review on Facebook.........Alexa, oh never mind, I'll do it myself. Sleep tight readers.