Explore the UK’s most haunted theatres with Ghost Stories

It’s no secret that theatres are favourite haunts for ghosts!

We’ve collected some spooky tales from some of the theatres that hit Ghost Stories will be visiting on its first full UK tour.

Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s piece follows Professor Goodman, a skeptic determined to debunk the paranormal, who investigates three hauntings reported by a night-watchman, a teenage boy, and a businessman expecting his first child. His quest challenges the limits of rationality.

Leading the play are Dan Tetsell (Rivals, Disney+) as the Professor, David Cardy (Birds of a Feather, ITV) as Tony Matthews, Clive Mantle (Casualty, BBC) as Mike Priddle, and Eddie Loodmer-Elliott (Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness) as Simon Rifkind. They’re joined by Lucas Albion and Simon Bass as understudies.

Audiences are warned that the show contains extreme shock and tension, making it unsuitable for those under 15 or with a nervous disposition.

The production is currently in Milton Keynes, and will visit Salford, Cheltenham, Liverpool, Woking, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Norwich, Newcastle, Nottingham, Southend, Birmingham, Belfast, Leicester, Wycombe, Southampton, Wolverhampton, Brighton, Shrewsbury, Malvern, and Cardiff.

Cheltenham Everyman Theatre

Ahead of a refurb in 1983, staff had to move a large safe down a spiral staircase. While this was happening, a technician, Roger, heard somebody at the bottom of the stairs. When he went to investigate, he saw an older gentleman wearing period dress, a top hat, and holding a cane. The figure asked Roger whether there were any shows on, and confused – as all of the doors were locked – he replied saying that the theatre was closed. Roger recalls that the man huffed and started to walk away. As Roger headed back up the stairs, the safe slipped and fell down the stairs. Leaping to safety, the technician grew concerned for the visitor and ran down the stairs to see if he was okay. But, he was nowhere to be seen. The only way out was through the stage door and nobody saw him leave…

Ghost Stories visits Cheltenham Everyman Theatre from 4 to 8 March 

Liverpool Playhouse

The most famous ghost story from Liverpool Playhouse is one about a woman named Elizabeth, who was a cleaner at the theatre. Back when the venue was a music hall and variety theatre in 1897, Elizabeth was cleaning the stage when the fire iron came down and struck her. She fell into the orchestra pit and broke her neck. Despite her death being recorded as an accident, the fire iron at the time was water-powered and needed someone to operate it. Elizabeth’s ghost is said to haunt the theatre’s gallery level, specifically the seat A5 – which is always cold. Front of house staff have claimed to see a gentleman in a stove pipe hat running down the fire exit from the Gallery level, but when they follow him there is nobody there.

Ghost Stories visits Liverpool Playhouse from 11 to 15 March 

Edinburgh Festival Theatre

The Festival Theatre is considered one of the most haunted theatres in Scotland. Over the years, staff have reported numerous paranormal happenings around the theatre, from cold spots that appear and disappear in seconds, heavy doors that slump open in empty auditoriums, and ghosts walking in the basement. 

In 1911, The Great Lafayette – born Sigmund Neuberger – visited the theatre, then known as the Empire Palace Theatre, to perform his most ambitious production to date. The celebrated illusionist performed his finale, “The Lion’s Bride”, where he swapped places with a lion live on stage. However, a lamp fell on the carpeted set and went up in flames. Eleven people perished in the blaze, including the entertainer, who was found under a trap door in the basement. It is believed that Lafayette haunts the Festive Theatre, shining his diamond rings in the dark – and there have even been reports of a lion’s roar in the auditorium.

Another tale follows the Peg Leg Sailor. Long before walkie-talkies and headsets, off-duty sailors worked the fly loft because of their expertise with knots and raising and lowering sails. The narrow, high platforms, usually dimly lit during the performance, can be daunting places in theatres. There have been sightings of a small, limping figure seen pacing up and down and the sounds of the scraping of a wooden leg have been heard coming from an empty fly floor. 

Also spotted upstairs is a young girl in a yellow dress. Thought to enjoy playing in the upper circle, she has been reported to softly blow air on the back of audience members’ necks and twirl their hair.

Ghost Stories visits Edinburgh Festival Theatre from 26 to 29 March 

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

There are two ghosts said to haunt the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. The first is Percy J Purdey, who managed the theatre in the first half of the 20th century. He lived in a flat on the upper floors of the theatre, and continued to stay after retirement. He was said to be a man of habit, and he continues to be in the afterlife. He walks around the building at the end of a busy day before heading to the old basement bar for a whisky each night. Staff over the years have reported footsteps, figures appearing in doorways, locked doors seeming to have unlocked themselves, and items such as bar furniture and glasses having changed positions.

The second ghost is known as the Grey Lady or the Lavender Lady, because of the scent that follows her. She was an audience member (though some believe her to be a former mayoress of the town) who would sit in one of the boxes – it’s here that people have observed a sudden chill and the scent of lavender.

Ghost Stories visits Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from 1 to 5 July

Theatre Royal Brighton

Another Grey Lady was first reported in 1960 in the backstage area, and again in the number one dressing room. She’s said to be wearing a grey chiffon dress and was spotted by a bar manager to have appeared gentle, giving a sweet smile before vanishing. A theory suggests she is a nun who had lost her way.

In 1866, Henry Nye Chart bought the theatre for £7,500 and made changes: including making the auditorium horseshoe-shaped and adding the gallery. When he died ten years later, his wife Ellen became the theatre manager. After she died in 1894, the Nye Chart’s houses became the main entrance and royal circle bar that we know today. Ellen has been seen walking through the auditorium and sitting in her favourite royal circle seat, G16. Meanwhile, in the Phipps Room (which was originally part of the house), there is often a strong, but brief, smell of cigar smoke.

Ghost Stories visits Theatre Royal Brighton from 8 to 12 July

Can’t get enough of haunted theatres? Catch up with the WhatsOnStage Podcast!