Cheryl From Girls Aloud In The West End

 As someone with zero shame in saying I loved Girls Aloud back in the day,  I was over the moon to be offered tickets to see Cheryl Cole (or just Cheryl as she goes by these days) in her West End debut in 2:22 A Ghost Story, which is currently on at The Lyric Theatre. The show has been a huge hit, originally starring another pop princess - Lily Allen - and Jake Wood from Eastenders who has stayed on his role (and is SO good in this). They are very keen that there's zero spoilers, even projecting "Ssh, please don't tell!" on to the stage wall during the curtain call, but will say I could never have worked out the twist in a million years.  Cheryl stars as a harassed new mum who has more than a baby keeping her up at night in the new house she's bought with her haughty husband, a man who has to always be right. For several nights in a row she's heard footsteps and a man crying at exactly 2:22 at night, so she invites her husband's oldest friend round for dinner, along with the friends's new partner, and breaks it to them that the four of them will be staying up until 2:22 so they can help her solve the spooky mystery. The dialogue flows well, and the haunted goings on keep you on the edge of your seat so that a play taking place on one night in one room never gets stagnant. I didn't expect it to be so funny, made even more hilarious when Jake Wood lost it briefly at one point and laughed. The audience roared with laughter until he got back on track, with Cheryl in the background trying her hardest not to break character too. It's a genuinely funny script, and the laughter is a relief from all the jump scares and mounting tension as that clock ticks on to 2:22. I heartily recommend this, it's a great night out, and at just two hours including interval, it's just the right length if you want to head out afterwards too.Book tickets for 2:22 A Ghost Story here. My tickets were kindly gifted