by Saoirse Anton

In theatre, our stock and trade is stories. Whether they are told through dialogue, dance, music, magic tricks or circus skills, stories are at the heart of everything we do. It’s no surprise then, that some of those stories spill out beyond the stage. There are, of course, all the storied of dramatic feuds between old stars of the stage and screen, and the whispered dressing room dramas, but given the time of year, I think it’s fitting to gather around the metaphorical fire and delve into some of the spooky tales that haunt our stages.

Whether or not you believe in ghosts, it’s pretty easy to see how ghost stories easily spring up around theatres. Generations of performers treading each others’ footsteps across the boards, speaking the same scripts, telling the same stories, high emotions onstage and off, the outside world suspended as a crowd of people gathers in a dark room to experience some magic…

From ghost stories that inspired the classic gothic tale of The Phantom of the Opera, to a star-studded cast of ghosts like the famous regency-era clown, Joseph Grimaldi, who doles out the occasional comic kick to staff at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and Ziegfeld Follies chorus-girl, Olive Thomas, who is said to roam the New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street, there are ghost stories aplenty to keep anyone on their toes in a dark auditorium.

And it’s not just the West End and Broadway that have their share of spooks and spectres. Looking closer to home, we find stories of a poltergeist wreaking havoc in the bar at the Olympia Theatre, and a veritable rep company of ghosts at the Gaiety Theatre, including familiar names like the formidable Archbishop McQuaid, late theatre manager Louis Elliman, and opera singer Margaret Burke Sheridan.

It must be testament to the joy of the theatre that the vast majority of tales about hauntings in theatres feature benevolent, sometimes mischievous, ghosts. When we all love our jobs the way many people in theatre do, is it any surprise that it is easy to imagine that some of us might stick around beyond the grave? I can certainly think of a few old theatrical haunts I’d like to keep an eye on and continue the fun in when I shuffle off this mortal coil.

However, if you prefer your Halloween frights a little more obviously fictional, there is plenty on offer across Ireland’s stages this month.

The Bram Stoker Festival returns to Dublin, offering spooky performances, walking tours, historical talks and film screenings, alongside centenary celebrations of the classic horror film Nosferatu. Particular highlights of the programme that I’m looking forward to are Stoker on Stoker, an evening of discussion, reenactment and dramatic readings with Dacre Stoker, one of Bram Stoker’s only living descendants and Bram Stoker and the Haunted Library, an after-hours tour of the historic Marsh’s Library, complete with ghost stories from between the shelves. Red Line Festival in Tallaght brings stage adaptations of M.R. James classics to the stage, and delves into discussions about Irish folk-horror cinema and true crime. The Opera Workshop bring their Twisted Tales to the Coach House in Limerick, and you can get another dose of M.R. James’ chilling ghost stories at Bewley’s Café Theatre with Michael James Ford and Stewart Roche’s adaptation of Lost Hearts coming to the stage after its successful online production filmed at Roundwood House last year. In a London Horror Society review, Hugh McStay noted that the “wonderful setting, interesting performances, and brilliant sound design” of Lost Hearts made him feel as though he “had travelled back in time to the 1900’s to bear witness to one of James’ darker stories,” and I know I certainly found myself casting a second glance towards all the shadows in my room before going to sleep after watching it, so I can safely recommend this production for a captivating scare this Halloween!

Whether you go to the theatre in the hope of meeting some real-life spectres, or to get lost in a good scary story, this October make your way to the theatre and delight in a fright!