With a history as rich as London’s, there’s no wonder the capital has a wealth of urban myths and ghost stories to tell.
One such story is that of the ghosts that haunt London’s theatres.
London’s West End is known for playing world-renowned and critically-acclaimed musicals, often at venues that are hundreds of years old.
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But stick around after curtain call and revellers might manage to see a spooky spectre or two as well.
Here are some of London’s most haunted theatres and the terrifying tales behind them.
John Baldwin Buckstone, Theatre Royal Haymarket
One of the less sinister ghosts wandering the halls of London’s theatres is said to live at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
John Baldwin Buckstone was a successful playwright, comedian and actor who performed on London’s stages in the 1800s.
He wrote more than 150 plays over the course of his career before passing away at the age of 77 in 1879.
Today, the ghost of Buckstone is said to live at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, where directors and stagehands claim he likes to watch performances - especially comedies.
Legendary British actor Sir Patrick Stewart claims to have seen Buckstone standing in the wings during a performance of Waiting for Godot at the theatre.
Arthur Bourchier, Garrick Theatre
A distinguished actor and theatre manager, Arthur Bourchier is known for his roles in classical dramas and his management of the Garrick Theatre, where he produced many plays.
After he retired from the theatre, Bourchier became active in Labour Party politics, and was selected as the parliamentary candidate for Gloucester.
Bourchier passed away in 1927, two years before the General Election in 1929.
Today, the spectre of Bourchier is said to live in the Garrick Theatre.
Legend has it that the venue has a ‘phantom staircase’ upon which Bourchier’s ghost can be seen.
The Severed Head, Lyceum Theatre
The Lyceum Theatre is known as the home of the critically-acclaimed stage adaptation of Disney’s The Lion King.
But the venue is also said to be home to something altogether scarier than an evil lion voiced by Jeremy Irons: the severed head of a man.
In the 1880s, a couple watching a performance from one of the balconies looked down to the audience and saw the head sat on a woman’s lap.
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Legend has it that the couple tried to find the woman after the show, but never caught her.
Several years later, the husband is said to have visited a house in Yorkshire.
Upon arriving, he was horrified to notice something on one of the house’s walls: a painting of the same man whose severed head he and his wife saw at the Lyceum Theatre.
The owner told him the man was an ancestor and former resident of the house who had been beheaded for treason - and that his family owned the land where the Lyceum was built.
William Terris, Adelphi Theatre
French author François de La Rochefoucauld famously said in the 1600s that “our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy”.
In the case of the death of William Terris, he’d be right.
In the late 1800s, Terris had become quite successful thanks to his role in Secret Service, which ran at the Adelphi Theatre in 1897.
But his stardom did not last very long.
When he arrived at the stage door for a performance one evening, he was rushed and stabbed by one of the play’s envious extras.
He died in the arms of his leading lady Jessica Milward, to whom he spoke his last words: “I will be back.”
Today, Terris is said to roam the halls of the Adelphi as a poltergeist, causing strange events, knocks and sightings at the venue.
The ghosts of Theatre Royal Drury Lane
At more than 350 years old, Theatre Royal Drury Lane is said to be the most haunted theatre on the planet.
The venue’s most famous ghost is the Man in Grey, who appears during the day in a wig, grey cloak and three-pointed hat.
He has been seen a number of times crossing from one side of the upper circle to the other before melting into a wall and disappearing.
The Man in Grey’s true identity has never been confirmed, but legend has it that he is the ghost of a skeleton that builders found in a secret room behind the wall in the 1870s.
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Theatre Royal Drury Lane is also said to be haunted by comedian Joseph Grimaldi, progenitor of the modern clown and eccentric who asked that his head be severed from his body when he died.
Grimaldi is said to give performance a comedy kick when he appears in the wings as a white, floating face.
Have you ever seen a ghost at one of London's theatres? Let us know in the comments!
