“I was stabbed at the Adelphi Theatre. I cannot rest.”: Nineteenth-Century Theatre Ghosts

Description

To many historians, the Victorians invented the theatre ghost. Innovations in theatre technology over the first half of the nineteenth century meant that ghosts, vampires, fairies—all things supernatural—were an expected part of the business of the stage. But what happens when those who play the ghosts refuse to exit on cue?
This talk will explore the technologies that allowed ghosts to appear on the nineteenth century stage, and will tell the stories of some ghostly figures who keep the nineteenth-century stage with us to this day. Why were the Victorians so fascinated by the spectacle of a spectre? And why won’t their spirits leave the theatre?

Period	3 Nov 2021
Held at	The Atkinson, United Kingdom
Degree of Recognition	International