Atlas Obscura: For fans, lights are a vital part of the theatergoing experience. Rows of expectant ticket holders wait for the lights to go down and then they wait for them to go up so they know the journey is over. Plenty of tourists trot down New York’s Broadway just to gawk at the marquees.
But for lots of cast and crew, the most atmospheric of all theater lights is a bare bulb called a “ghost light”.
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With such a culturally rich medium such as live entertainment, it is not surprising that there are traditions whose origin is unknown. Nearly all productions that I have worked in there has always been a ghotstlight, most often when the lighting for the actual production is not yet installed and actors or designers are working on stage. This in itself does not seem the likely fodder for ghost stories, but the thought of a bare stage lit by a single bulb does resonate with me for that imagery is very integral to the nature of theater--supremely transient, forever building then taking down a set. The "x" factor of theater in the illusion that is creates an entire world for audiences is also represented in the single light, both illuminating key elements while leaving others hidden from view--much like life in that sense, which theater aims at representing.
It's the little things that we hold dearest to us. It's our backstage rituals and traditions that gives theatre an air of mystery mixed with history. Funny enough, when I was growing up in theater, we never used a ghost light. Our reasoning was that because we were doing our shows in a newly built theater, there weren't any ghosts yet. We had a running joke that after the first person died, we would start using a ghost light at the end of each night. Ha ha. In all seriousness, the practical usage of a ghost light is critical, especially if you're doing theater in a space that reconfigures the stage for multiple shows (if shows are in rep or the like). It's the first line of defense to potentially life threatening injuries. The ghost light, for me, also represents an idea that even though you might leave the physical theater, the theatRE never really leaves. It's almost like "you can take the actor out of a show, but you can't take the show out of the actor". Plus, the spookiest rituals are the ones that stick, because, let's be real, no one wants the theater ghost after them.
Someone once mentioned that we use a ghost light in the Chosky, and I honestly has no idea what they were talking about. When I asked for an explanation, the person who mentioned it to me didn't even know the exact reason why we used a ghost light in the first place. After reading this article, it seems that no one really knows why we use a ghost light. The idea of someone walking into a theatre and falling off the stage in the middle of the night and breaking their neck feels a little far fetched, so i'm surprised that there isn't a concrete story of how this tradition came to be. I'll be honest and say that I do kind of like it, and it feels just weird enough to be a tradition that only exists in the theatre, but it still feels a little bit weird and I'm not sure how I would feel about enacting this tradition on a show that i'm working on.
That ghost light performance in "So You Think You Can Dance" is sick. There's so much going on, but it all works because the lights do such a wonderful job of highlighting the edges of the dancers and both filling the stage and allowing darkness to engulf certain members for a surprise entrance. Having seen many a ghost light in the Chosky, I definitely got the same eeriness from the dance piece I just watched. I didn't know there was so much history behind the light, though it does make a lot of sense that there's quite a few ghost stories behind the ghost light. It's also rather wonderful that almost every theatre has a ghost light in them, no matter how big or how small. What is a little worrying, however, is that before electric light bulbs they used to set up gas-lamps as ghost lamps. Having just had the talk about Fire Safety from Molly, that only makes me nervous knowing how wrong an open flame in a theatre can be.
I find it very funny that so many theaters are thought to be inhabited by ghosts, especially because I agree. Almost every theater I've worked in has had some sort of ghost tale, and some sort of strange feel with the lights off. Who knows if it was just talked up that way or what, but it truly feels that way. Walking into a theater without a ghost light is so eerie and I really hate it. I think it's so odd because you can't tell how much space is around you. Theaters are very well insulated to let as little light in as possible and it's very hard to tell if you can hear anything, where anything is, if anything is safe to walk on...it's unnerving to say the least. I love the use of ghosts lights as a tradition.
Ghost lights tend to be one of those things in the theatre that no one questions, so for a long time, I didn't bother questioning it. I would put out the ghost light every night at Northwestern one summer without any idea of why I was doing it, except that it was important to the people who asked me to. My mom asked me at the end of the program what the point of it was and I think I said something along the lines of, "It's to help if anyone needs to come in and work in the theatre." We never used on in high school, so until college I didn't give it another thought. Then came The Wiz, when I had to strike it before rehearsal and set it at the end of every night. It was an annoying task with the ramps on stage, so I questioned its necessity. This is when I first realized what the light was for, and it seemed (seems) rather silly to me. The idea of a ghost in the theatre hadn't plagued me since I was in an acting class as a child where someone said "Macbeth" in the theatre and proceeded to fall off the stage and break his arm. But now I realize that this is just one of those theatre traditions that people cling to for the sake of tradition rather than for any practical reason.
I know the reason of why there is a ghost light on stage is rooted in safety and protection I think in modern culture we think of it more as a symbol of art and tradition. I agree with others that the practical safety use of it preventing someone from falling off the stage in the dark in the middle of the night is not as much a problem anymore. We now have flashlights on our phones and we have the technology to make maybe edge lights for the edge of the stage, kind of like a movie theatre lights up where the paths are. They can be dimly lit during a performance even. that way a total black out can happen and people can still move on stage without fear. But the ghost light itself represents for me a theatre tradition that has been carried on by most theatres. It can represent a lot of things really. It can represent that art is always present on stage. That the tradition of theatre will always stay on just like this ghost light. There can be a lot of deep meanings with this but I think most of all it represents tradition and curtesy in theatre.
It is interesting to know that having a ghost light is not an actual equity rule. Every theater has one because of this superstition. Even though it is a superstition the ghost light has a very important practical use. It is very helpful and smart to have a light on on stage because there are usually many obstacles and possibly dangerous set pieces for a production. If there was no light on then it is possible that someone could have gotten hurt in the dark. Many stages also have a pit and all have an edge to the stage, which could be very easy to fall into if it was pitch black. There are enough injuries in theatre and having people fall off the stage or in the pit would be a very bad thing. Ghost lights are very effective even though they only shine on part of the stage.
I understand completely the practical part of it. I kind of surprise of how people in this industry in America also has such believes in ghosts and spirits of the theatre. I remembered my first experience was after first tech of You Can't Take it With you and after tech Tim Sutter and I did our final check and closing the space and he brought up this light which I asked what was that light for and he said it's call "ghost light" which means to keep the ghost away from the space and also to absorb the energy that came up from actors and other elements and got left over in this space after the tech was done. Ghost light is a superstitious items that will absorb these leftovers and so there will be no "something go wrong" or "something explode" during the next tech or performance because of overloaded energy. i think it's interesting that this belief is pretty world wide and people in the arts especially are somehow still cling on to it.
I love these little superstitions and beliefs that make up the rich lore of theater. Things like saying "Break a leg" or not saying the name of the Scottish play in a theater are so commonplace in our lives but might seem strange to people from the outside. But even more interesting to me are the superstitions, like the ghost light, that have practical roots. The practical aspects of a ghost light are pretty obvious to anyone who has ever had to walk through a pitch dark theater after everyone else has gone home.
But there are traditions we maintain even though their practical use is outdated, such as the belief that you should never whistle in a theater. I learned that this comes from the time when sailors were the men hired to pull the lines for the rigging, and sailors were trained to communicate with whistles, therefore casually whistling might cause the man operating the line to pull it at the wrong time, or worse bring a piece of scenery down onto the stage expectantly. But that practical reason for not whistling in a theater has evolved into the belief that it is bad luck.
This makes me wonder if we will keep the ghost light around, should it ever lose it's practical use, just because there is so much sentiment and lore around the idea of that single lamp burning on the dark stage.
This is the kind of story that I’ve always loved about theater. There are so many traditions, superstitious or otherwise, that fill its history, and learning the stories behind them is fascinating. The ones I’m most familiar with are saying break a leg instead of good luck, don’t say Macbeth in a theater, don’t whistle in a theater, and of course, ghost lights. Of all of these my favorite is probably the ghost light. Unlike some of the others (break a leg and whistling) it doesn’t come from a purely practical place, it has this wonderful air of magic to it. I think that’s part of why theaters keep using ghost lights even though modern lighting equipment has given us low power LED strips that could be used for the same safety purpose. Outlining the orchestra pit with LEDs just wouldn’t be the same. You wouldn’t get the same feeling of walking into this giant dark space and seeing one bulb glowing away, guarding the theater from the clumsy and the supernatural.
I never knew that there was a tradition to the ghost light in a theatre when no one is there. I just assumed it was something we do to have light for the first person who arrives the next day so they can see where they are going. So it is interesting that people associate the light with keeping the ghosts away. It makes me chuckle because my undergrad theatre had a rumor about a ghost living there and we always made sure to treat the building with respect because it was his. It was a funny joke between us but we never thought that it was a regular suspicion of theatres. However, I love what is quoted at the end of the article about how all you see is the glow around the ghost light and it makes you think about what is around you and what can come out at any point in time.
Theaters have so many superstitions! I disagree with most of them, and they mostly do more harm than good, but I am actually quite fond of this tradition. I like that this ritual stems from a practice used for safety and has since budded into something that has less practical reasons. My high school theater had ghost lights. They formed a ring around the catwalk and were never to be turned off except for shows. This was in case there was a power outage and the auditorium went pitch black. It also helped for when people stumbled into the auditorium between classes. To have a ghost light on major stages seems to be just as helpful as it is ritualistic. Because of this, it doesn't bother me as much. I do, however, have trouble with almost every other theater ritual. When they lead to more harm than good, I don't see why they still exist. I accidentally said Macbeth during a middle school production I was TA-ing for and a middle schooler verbally abused me for saying such a terrible word. The show went fine (well as well as a non-jewish production of Fiddler on the Roof can go) and it wasn't brought up again. So I'm against harmful theater traditions, this, however, is one that I support.
For some the ghost light is purely superstition. It's there to keep the ghosts happy. For some it is purely practical. It's there to keep people from falling off the stage or stumbling onto a sharp edge.
For me the ghost light holds a special place in my heart beyond any application, practical, or superstitious. The first time I really got into doing theatre was at my High School and about halfway through my freshman year I had been asked to come in early to set up for an event. I had been setting up the ghost light for the last few months along with the rest of the crew and understood its uses but this was the first time I had been the first person back in the theatre since we had left the night before. You open the door and that single glowing orb in the middle of the stage can take your breath away. If only because it’s harsh shadows and white glow is such a contrast to the magic that we create in theatres.
When I think of a ghost light, the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Not because the idea of warding off ghosts is scary to me (well, that scary), but because in company with some of the worlds best lighting technology and operations, the ghost light is beautifully and hauntingly bare. One of my first experiences with a ghost light might be why I get this feeling. When i was young I started to participate in community theatre and 'junior' shows that would rehearse on Saturday mornings. One time I got dropped off at rehearsal a little early and walking into a pitch black theatre. As I tried to find my way onto the stage thinking that the backstage was dark simply because everyone was in the house, I found my way to a bright light in the middle of the stage. Only being involved in theatre for a short time, I had no idea what this single light surrounded by darkness was. being confused and admittedly scared, I ran out of the theatre and waited outside for more people to show up. Now that I know what it is i think the ghost light is certainly practically sensible and to me, quite beautiful.
I love any and all theatre superstitions, but I think the ghost light is in an entirely different category. I love the ghost story belief behind its use, but more than that I adore the aesthetic of it. There are few things more simply beautiful than a single glowing light in on a dark stage. It's beautiful and almost poetic, even though it is commonplace and standard in every theatre. Ghost lights are so breathtaking, and their mild eeriness just adds to their beauty.
I too am captivated by the concept of a ghost light, or really any other ritualistic thing that has a practical use. I was under the impression that the ghost light served only that practical use, and that the superstitious nature to it was added to it as a component afterwards. To me, it’s interesting to see how superstitions begin, stemming from something important that then becomes obscured through a lack of a full understanding. There are other examples in theatre all over the place, I’m sure that most of the underclassmen have heard Sean West’s story of the man who held the swage tool shut for a certain amount of time so that ‘the metals could weld together’ or the fact that every single person in theatre seems to be mortified of uttering the name ‘Macbeth’ (a fear I do not share, but try and respect, note that I typed and did not speak it, in in my house which is not a theatre, so shush) for fear of the current production being cursed. Theatre superstition is something that captivates.
I have always loved this theatre tradition. There is no other feel like walking into an empty theatre and seeing the ghost light on. The simpleness of the light gives off a sort of eeriness and beauty to it. I think it is really interesting how no one really knows where the name or tradition came from. I loved how the article gave the stage manager's perspective-- so much more practical! Whatever the reason, I hope the the tradition of the ghost light will continue long into the future.
The idea that they are used to keep out the ghosts of the dead directors, actors, and stagehands from haunting the theater has always seen like a crazy superstition. I have always know the ghost light to be a liability protection for the theater when no one is there. From an economical stand point it’s always a thousand times more cost effective than the leaving all the lights on or leaving no lights on and getting sued for an injury. But I have always wondered whether or not the tradition of the light has always held up even in times of power outages. The thought of them being hooked up to a backup generator seems heavily wasteful on an electrical stand point, but again for liabilities’ sake completely necessary. Then the best way to continue making it a financial benefit was by making sure they have all switched from incandescent to LEDs because of their bright color temperature and less need for power.
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