ACT THREE: HAUNTED WEST END

London’s theatres are buzzing with life, but when the lights are off and the audience leaves, many theatre staff from box office to backstage report seeing figures out of the corner of their eye, smelling perfumes that can’t be explained or hearing strange sounds that unsettle and disturb. Some even describe feeling the hairs prickling on the back of the neck, sensing someone’s behind them or the eerie feeling that they’re not alone. Many theatres still leave a “ghost light” to keep the stage aglow and the spirits safe while everyone else has gone home, while many performers in Drury Lane consider it good luck to have a kick up the backside from the ghostly regency clown Joseph Grimaldi. From the mysterious lady in grey to the theatre that gave birth to the legend of Count Dracula, we’ll take you on a bewitching journey through theatreland’s most haunted locations before returning you safely back to Leicester Square.