Lily Allen is making her West End debut at 36 this month in “2:22 Ghost Story”, a supernatural thriller by Danny Robins. Robins is known for his other production “The Battersea Poltergeist”, a horror podcast docudrama.

Allen described the play in the Guardian as “a meditation on marriage and relationships and family” as well as a “brilliant investigation into the ghosts that haunt us”, and she spoke about how much she enjoyed the live performance aspect of her career and how engaging spontaneously with audiences is what she is most looking forward to about the play. In a statement, Allen said that “I feel that stepping into this play is an exciting natural extension of [live performance] and affords me the best of all worlds. I get to explore mature subject matter, be a woman with a real point of view and show the West End audiences how much I love live performance and being in front of an audience. I can’t wait.”

Her co-stars include Julia Chan of “Silent House”, Jake Wood (who played Max Branning in EastEnders), and Hadley Fraser of “City of Angels”. The story centres around a dinner party where the four friends plan to stay up late to see if they can identify the noise Allen’s character, Jenny, hears every night at 2:22 am. The noise has led her to believe her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam (played by Fraser) remains unconvinced.

Writer Danny Robins describes the play as exploring “the clash between belief and scepticism through a couple’s relationship”, while Olivier-award nominated director Matthew Dunster describes it as a clash between horror and social commentary with a suspenseful atmosphere.

The play will open at the Noel Coward theatre in August.