In a building as old as this one it’s no surprise that we’ve had a few spooky encounters over the years, and Halloween seems like the perfect time to tell them! From a mysterious woman on the balcony to a strange doppelganger, prepare for a fright…
Not all ghosts are scary, and that goes for the mysterious figure known as ‘Mary’. Commonly seen haunting the balcony of the theatre, numerous people have described the same woman wearing a long white dress standing up in the top seats. Our backstage crew have frequently seen her late at night when packing up after shows, and our ushers have also seen the same woman on the balcony, there for a moment and then gone. Due to the prolific nature of this apparition, the backstage team have affectionately dubbed her ‘Mary’ and assure newcomers to the theatre that if they see her then there’s nothing to fear, as she’s been nothing but friendly.
Although there is some discrepancy over where exactly Mary comes from, general consensus seems to be that she is a woman from the early days of the Albany Theatre, who was crushed by a faulty safety curtain. Although no record of this event happening at The Albany seems to exist, people have been injured in similar incidents before.
Although Mary is our most famous ghost, she’s not the only one. A member of the tech team once described seeing a man walking on the Lighting Bridge after a show but after calling to him, he disappeared. Presuming it to be another member of the team, she shrugged it off. But when she saw the real man outside, he said that he hadn’t been up there that evening, nor had any other members of the team. The mans identity remains a mystery, but some suggest it could be the ghost of a member of the backstage crew when the Albany Theatre was first being built, who reportedly threw himself off the top floor of the foyer…
Some people have experienced some slightly more nefarious energy. The auditorium is notoriously cold, and some have experienced an eerie feeling when in there alone late at night. One staff member was locking up late one night, and had just turned off the lights, plunging the theatre into pitch black darkness. She reported feeling an oppressive and foreboding presence behind her, and quickly rushed out to safety!
Our Technical Manager, who often stays at the theatre alone late into the night, has seen plenty of spooky happenings in his long tenure at the theatre. He reports often hearing strange knocking noises and banging coming from backstage, but whenever he went to check there was nothing amiss. Once, he even saw a flight case rolling along the rake on it’s own, which is already quite strange, but is even spookier when it was rolling uphill!
At a showing of Most Haunted earlier this month, plenty of paranormal experiences occurred. Strange sounds of knocking and banging came from beneath the stage, leaving everyone bewildered, especially our tech team who had no explanation for what had occurred as to their knowledge no one and nothing could have been making the sound! During the Ouija board section of the evening, the hosts reported that a ghost was sitting in the empty seat K5. When one of the ushers heard this he was shocked, as he had always got a bad vibe from that seat. Maybe Mary fancied a show that night…
The Albany does have a storied history, first being built nearly 100 years ago as a college lecture hall. During the Second World War it was used as home for hundreds of homeless residents of Coventry, trenches were dug in the grounds and the iron railings were taken for the war effort, although the building itself survived the Blitz intact. The building then became a theatre in the college until the school moved in the late 90’s. Standing empty for four years, the theatre was then saved by a team of volunteers and made into the theatre it is today.
With such a storied history, and plenty of spooky tales over the years, it’s no surprise that some people think the theatre is haunted. But don’t let that stop you from coming, we promise the ghosts won’t interrupt our performances!
