Lily Allen is to make her West End debut in a new supernatural thriller play launching in the summer.
The 36-year-old singer will star as Jenny in 2:22 – A Ghost Story, appearing alongside EastEnders actor Jake Wood, City Of Angels’ Hadley Fraser, and Julia Chan of Silent House.
Written by Danny Robins – best known for his docudrama horror podcast The Battersea Poltergeist, which is being made into a TV series – the play tells the story of four friends at a dinner party, but all is not what it seems.
In a statement, Allen said: “I am so excited about getting to work on this play. The live performance aspect of my career has always been the most thrilling part for me, connecting with a group of individuals and the spontaneity of whatever happens on the night.
“I feel that stepping into this play is an exciting natural extension of that 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.”
The play follows Jenny, who believes her new home is haunted – but her husband Sam (Fraser) is not convinced.
After inviting old friend Lauren (Chan) and her new partner Ben (Wood) over for dinner, a “strange and frightening” feeling develops – and they all decide to stay awake until 2.22am to discover the truth.
Allen, who married Stranger Things actor David Harbour in September 2020, added that the play is a “brilliant investigation into the ghosts that haunt us and the hows and whys they come to be”.
Olivier Award-nominated director Matthew Dunster, who will helm the project at the Noel Coward Theatre, described it as “a unique combination of horror and social commentary”.
The play opens on 3 August.