Magazine | Edinburgh | STV: It’s a tough gig being a ghost these days. A century ago a simple white sheet and haunting wail would probably be enough to send shivers down our spines.
But now, what with films like Paranormal Activity and zombie games laden with special effects, a simple ‘Boo’ won’t quite cut the mustard.
Perhaps that’s why the resident phantom of the Edinburgh Playhouse has taken on a more genteel role for those he meets behind the velvet curtain.
6 comments:
People say that there's a ghost in Purnell but there's can't be - the building isn't old enough. Watch any show or read any book about ghosts and you'll know the ghosts haunt old buildings rich with history either tragic or wonderful. (Unless you build you housing development on an Indian burial ground, then you're asking for ghostly trouble.) Ghosts are part of the community that makes theater so exciting. They are characters both in the plays we stage and wander backstage after the curtain closes. We even put a special light out every night just for them. Ghosts let us remember the good times and the bad times. I worked at theater that had loud heating pipes in the light booth that would clang and bang even when the heat was off. It wasn't a mechanical problem it was the old board op who was hit by a drunk driver one night on the way from a performance. He is no longer physical with us, but still lingers in the building he loved the most. This article isn't so much about Albert, who he was in life and the tricks he plays on the occupants of the Edinburgh Playhouse but about its history, the stories that its employees and stagehands shared working together on a production. That's what makes theater ghosts so special, that's why most people you talk to have worked in a haunted theater. Ghosts may not be real but you can't deny that any building where people live and work will have its share of history and nostalgia. Perhaps ghosts are just a theater's way of keying everyone else into it.
This article tells anecdotes and a history specific to the Edinburgh Playhouse, but really could be about any old theater,as they all always seem to have some kind of ghost or spiritual folklore tied to them. I don't believe in ghosts, but I know every theater likes to believe it has one, and I absolutely do not see a problem with believing that. It makes sense after all, so much fantasy happens on stage, why wouldn't something as outlandish as a ghost be lurking around too? Beyond ghosts, I love that every theater ends up having an array of stories, marks, ad characters that accumulate over its existence; because there's nothing like putting on a show on a stage that has a history and heart.
Ghosts relate to our larger need to understand weird super natural things that happen to us. I personally do not believe in ghosts but I do understand this need, this quest, to understand why that door randomly blew open or why there is always faint whispers in a theater after everyone has gone home. I remember being about seven and being the only one of my 5 friends at a birthday party who could not see the ghost we had conjured using the wedgie board. And maybe this is why I love doing theater, because I need to create that magic for myself I need to make the ghosts (or effects) something that I can control and allow to happen whenever I want them to.
Talk about a real life Phantom of the Opera. Im always so indecisive with articles like this. I love them and think that they are vastly entertaining but sometimes I do think that our imagination runs away with us. If a ghost were to haunt somewhere, a theatre is the place to do it. I can also see that theatre's might exaggerate stories like this to draw attention to their theatre. I would love to go to a theatre that is said to be haunted. Its like a little bonus to your ticket price. Why do people go on ghost tours? Because they're fun to believe in. Even if, deep deep inside we know they're not real, we allow our beliefs to be suspended for those hours.
I saw a documentary this summer about the haunted theaters in New York City; it is quite common for people to believe that there are hauntings in these performance houses. I tend to believe these stories because there are so many and they are so vivid. This is a strange article, though, because it seems to focus more so on Smeeks's experience as a stage manager (poking a bit too much fun at his eccentricity in my opinion) rather than on Albert the Ghost, as the article's title implies. I hope that Smeeks's eccentricity does not affect people's perception of the presence of spirits that are talked about and the validity of these claims.
I don't know if I believe in ghosts, but they do make for great stories. I think it helps the theater company if their theater is "haunted". It peeks to everyones natural curiosity and adds a little suspense. Will something happen... Its also a little fun and exciting. It really helps in rustic places like Edinburgh where it would attract a lot of tourists. Not that every haunted theatre is a con...
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