Drury Lane
has been called one of the world's most haunted theatres. The appearance of
almost any one of the handful of ghosts that are said to frequent the theatre
signals good luck for an actor or production. The most famous ghost is the
"Man in Grey", who appears dressed as a nobleman of the late 18th
century: powdered hair beneath a tricorne hat, a dress jacket and cloak or
cape, riding boots and a sword. Legend says that the Man in Grey is the ghost
of a knife-stabbed man whose skeletal remains were found within a walled-up
side passage in 1848.
The ghosts
of actor Charles Macklin and clown Joseph Grimaldi are supposed to haunt the
theatre. Macklin appears backstage, wandering the corridor which now stands in
the spot where, in 1735, he killed fellow actor Thomas Hallam in an argument
over a wig ("Goddamn you for a blackguard, scrub, rascal!" he
shouted, thrusting a cane into Hallam's face and piercing his left eye).
Grimaldi is reported to be a helpful apparition, purportedly guiding nervous
actors skilfully about the stage on more than one occasion. The comedian
Stanley Lupino claimed to have seen the ghost of Dan Leno in a dressing
room.
No comments:
Post a Comment