By Nell Geraets
A stage occupied by a Neighbours star, a Vogue “it girl”, a familiar screen personality and Spider-Man’s rival in love doesn’t quite scream horror show, yet here they are – standing outside Her Majesty’s Theatre, ready to begin five weeks of rehearsal for a supernatural stage show only one has seen before.
This unlikely foursome – Ruby Rose, Gemma Ward, Daniel MacPherson and Remy Hii – has been chosen to star in Melbourne’s month-long season of 2.22 – A Ghost Story, a thriller theatre production that has already blitzed its way through London’s West End, earning itself three Olivier Award nominations and cult phenomenon status.
The big names in Melbourne’s 2.22 – A Ghost Story: (from right to left) Daniel MacPherson, Ruby Rose, Gemma Ward and Remy Hii.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Its horror plot is well-worn: a husband and wife, Jenny and Sam, move into a new house only to find Jenny is woken by strange noises every night at exactly 2.22am. Sam, an ardent sceptic when it comes to ghouls and goblins, cannot entertain the prospect of anything supernatural and invites their friends, Lauren and Ben, to stay up with them to prove nothing is afoot. But something is, of course, very much afoot.
It may seem rather predictable, but throw a blockbuster cast into the mix and anything can stick.
Written by Danny Robins (creator of hit BBC podcast The Battersea Poltergeist) and directed by Matthew Dunster, 2.22 premiered in the UK in 2021 and has since been performed by a smorgasbord of stars across various British theatres, including Tom Felton (Harry Potter), James Buckley (The Inbetweeners), Mandip Gill (Doctor Who) and even Smile singer Lily Allen.
It evolved into a global phenomenon after hitting the Los Angeles Ahmanson Theatre last year, starring an Americanised quartet of big names, including Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians), Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story), Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect) and Adam Rothenberg (Ozark).
The Melbourne iteration has secured its own group of recognisable faces sure to elicit the response, “oh that person is in it?”
Daniel MacPherson, a Logie winner known for his roles as Joel Samuels on Neighbours and Cameron Tait on The Bill, plays Ben. Lauren will be played by DJ, model, television presenter and actress Ruby Rose, previously seen in global blockbusters including Orange Is the New Black, The Meg and John Wick: Chapter 2.
Jenny and Sam are brought to life by actress and model Gemma Ward – who in 2004 became one of the youngest models to feature on the cover of American Vogue – and Malaysian-Australian actor Remy Hii, who you may recognise as Tom Holland’s romantic competition in Spider-Man: Far From Home or as Alistair Cheng in Crazy Rich Asians.
The cast gathered alongside producer Torben Brookman for the first time on Thursday to officially launch preparations for 2.22. Appropriately, they break the ice by bonding over their collective belief the theatre is haunted.
They also bond over their refusal to reduce the show to its star appeal, regardless of how powerful a recognisable name can be in attracting audiences.
“You’ve got these great, different personalities with wonderfully varied careers stepping into the shoes of these really well-written and well-refined characters,” MacPherson says. “And you’re adding ... really accessible theatre thematics. It just makes for a great show.”
Separating oneself from previous roles is especially important for those performing live theatre if they’re to invite audiences into the play’s own reality, Rose says. “Everything [in my career] becomes kind of encapsulated in these very small moments, whether it be an intimate moment on stage, whether it’s DJing, hosting, or film – you have this character, and you just dive into it.”
Though they have all spent time on stage before, most have not delved into the supernatural genre – other than Ward who performed in The Strangers in 2008 – making this production even more of an unexpected twist. But Hii says this is what drew him to the role.
“I never want to feel like I’m stagnant or stale or retreading the same material,” he says. “I’m really excited to do something very different.”
Ward agrees, noting how refreshing the absence of a camera can be. “I can just live in the moment without watching it back and critiquing myself. I feel like, I’m just living with the feeling of acting in the moment and the audience’s reaction.”
2.22 – A Ghost Story will open at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Tuesday, July 25. Tickets can be purchased on 222aghoststory.com.
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