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Topic: The Old Vic Theatre. Horrors and Hauntings (Read 34 times)

lloydrhd
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The Old Vic Theatre. Horrors and Hauntings
« Thread Started on May 3, 2009, 4:53pm »

The Old Vic Theatre
Horrors and Hauntings.
Part 1.

The Old Vic, a playhouse on London’s unfashionable south side, was so named because it was the survival of the Old Victoria Theatre (originally the Royal Coburg), notorious in the early nineteenth century as the haunt of the roughest clientele in town. In 1880 its licence ended abruptly as the theatre’s lease was taken over by Miss Emma Cons, a dedicated social worker and passionate servant of God and Temperance. She aimed to advance the good fight against bars and brothels by offering low cost “purified entertainment” fit for all the family, and so a squalid flea pit became the respectable Royal Victorian Coffee Music Hall, with a clean bill of fare that included wholesome vaudeville acts, extracts from opera, concerts, Sunday afternoon religious talks, and “penny lectures” by public spirited men of distinction. Its principles were high, its commercial aspects inevitably bleak. And then, at the turn of the century, the extraordinary Lilian Baylis arrived to take over the management from her elderly aunt.

Miss Baylis became a legendary character in London, the dynamic missionary of the arts who had successfully brought culture to the masses as the initiator (in 1914) of the Old Vic Shakespeare Company, and later as the founder of Sadler’s Wells, with its opera and ballet. There were many popular stories about the God fearing Miss Baylis, illustrating her wrath, her simplicity, her dedication and eccentricity. This is brought to the fore in Part (2), but first to the horrors of the Old Vic.

It was at the Old Vic in 1923, that all restraint was fully abandoned for the production of Titus Andronicus, that blood chilling anthology of atrocities which includes thirteen deaths, two mutilations and one rape, and concludes with a cannibal banquet at which Tamora, Queen of the Goths, is served pie made out of the blood and bones of her two murdered sons. A number of the audience fainted every night, most of the casualties falling as Titus sacrificed his left hand (in ransom for his sons) to the axe with a sound effects man hacking a nice scrunch of bone offstage. Or could it have been when his severed hand had been returned, together with the heads of his sons? It wasn’t considered a successful evening unless a dozen people fainted at the horrors of Titus.

Part (2) is the final part of this story, which contains far more horrors, a tragedy and a haunting. Happy haunting from The Serial Ghost Story Teller.

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Andi
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Re: The Old Vic Theatre. Horrors and Hauntings
« Reply #1 on May 5, 2009, 9:25am »

sounds really eerie

waiting for part 2 now

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lloydrhd
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Re: The Old Vic Theatre. Horrors and Hauntings
« Reply #2 on May 6, 2009, 3:40pm »

The Old Vic Theatre
Horrors and Hauntings.
Part 2.

In 1937 Laurence Olivier returned to the Old Vic for his second series of great Shakespearean roles, beginning with Macbeth. Macbeth, of course, has a reputation as Shakespeare’s most haunted and ill starred play. Over the centuries productions have been interrupted by political riot and arson, even by attempted murder. In Poland an actress was shot by her lover while playing Lady Macbeth on stage. In Oldham an actor (Harold Norman) was so severely wounded in the Macbeth-Macduff fight that he died in hospital one month later. Many minor mishaps have fed the legend of the jinx. Donald Wolfit almost broke his neck in rehearsal, Diana Wynyard sprained her ankle in the sleepwalking scene, a Stratford opening was postponed when producer Peter Hall came down with shingles. However irrational or exaggerated this theatrical superstition may be, Olivier’s first appearance in the title role was certainly accompanied by an extraordinary number of misfortunes to encourage the notion of a hoodoo. The director, Michel Saint-Denis was involved in a taxi accident before the opening. Lilian Baylis grieved when her dog that she loved was run over and killed. Olivier developed a severe cold, and rehearsals were so bedevilled with interruptions that the opening had to be postponed for four days, an action unprecedented at the Old Vic. Olivier’s chill, given as the official reason for the postponement, served to cover up a multitude of production problems. Quite simply, the play was not ready in time. The night before opening at dress rehearsal everything seemed to go wrong and by midnight they had only got through the first scene.

Real tragedy was to follow. Miss Baylis suffered a heart attack, and on the day before the rescheduled opening it was announced at rehearsal that she had died. She was sixty three and had been battling with ill health for more than three years. Lilian Baylis had always threatened to come back and haunt The Old Vic should her and her aunt, Emma Cons’ work ever be at risk. Her last expressed wish was that her illness should not be allowed to interfere with Macbeth’s opening as planned.

On every Old Vic first night for thirty years Lilian Baylis had conspicuously occupied her private box. Now her chair was empty, and before the curtain went up Lord Lytton, chairman of the Governing Body, paid a tribute to this “masterful woman of genius.”

Not until he had completed his performance was Olivier given a note that she had left for him several days before. On a visiting card she had written, “Welcome return to dear Laurence Olivier. May you be as happy in Macbeth as in Hamlet last season”

Although Olivier was not happy with Macbeth its run made a profit for the Old Vic Theatre. The Macbeth jinx manifested itself one more time during the run. Ellis Irving was playing Macduff when he had his hand so badly injured in the sword fight with Olivier that he had to be replaced. Roger Livesey took over and found his duelling opponent no less ferocious. Livesey said, “Larry used to put up a tremendously vigorous fight, and on one occasion I broke his sword. The broken bit, made of steel, whizzed out into the audience, and we stopped fighting and waited to hear a cry from someone impaled on it. The audience also waited for something dramatic. But nothing happened and so we resumed. At the end of the matinee a dear old lady appeared with the piece of sword. She asked Larry to autograph it for her and then she proudly took it away.” Maybe Lilian Baylis’s spirit was watching overhead and saved the day.

Shortly afterwards another near tragedy took place. The Old Vic put on a spectacular Christmas show of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, set in Victorian period, dazzling décor, a flying ballet of fairies, and incidental music by Mendelssohn. Ralph Richardson was a hilarious Bottom. Alexander Knox had just five lines as Tom Snout, the tinker. Robert Helpmann, as Oberon, had his first important speaking part on the stage. Titania was played by Vivien Leigh. This production was the first Shakespearean play ever attended by the child princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret. For the eleven year old future Queen of England it might easily have been her last. The heiress to the throne nearly lost her life by falling from the box, so interested was she to see how the fairies flew that she hung out by the heels. On the same afternoon, Helpmann and Miss Leigh were brought round at the interval to the Royal Box, to be presented. In the process of making their bow and curtsy the elaborate wire headdresses of the Fairy King and Queen became inextricably twisted together. The pair remained head down, literally with locked horns, until wrenched apart by the Queen and the two delighted children. Again, was the spirit of Liliam Baylis looking out for them, and was it her humour to cause the subsequent comedy of errors?

The Old Vic suffered many set backs, including being badly damaged by bombs in 1941. 1947 the damaged auditorium was used by the newly established Old Vic School. 1950 the Theatre re opened after repairs and renovations with a performance of Twelfth Night. 1953 to 1958 the complete First Folio was staged for a second time, beginning with Richard Burton as Hamlet. 1963 The Old Vic disbanded. The National opened with Hamlet starring Peter O’Toole. 1970 money from recent surpluses was used to finance the Young Vic, which served the National as a studio theatre for three years, after which it became a separate company.

1976 The National’s last performance before moving to the South Bank was Tribute to the Lady. Peggy Ashcroft plays Baylis, John Guilgud and Ralph Richardson are among those taking part, Michael Redgrave and Sybil Thorndyke are in the audience. In her curtain speech Ashcroft repeats Baylis’ threat to come back and haunt The Old Vic should her and her aunt, Emma Cons’ work ever be put at risk.

Legend has it that Lilian Baylis kept her word. The chair in her private box is kept empty for first night performances, and it is said that she still appears at the theatre to ensure all goes well. The last time she supposedly appeared was in 1998 when the theatre was put on the market. Suggestions for changing it into a themed pub, a bingo hall or a lap dancing club provoked widespread outrage and protests to public and political pressure. It was acquired by the Old Vic Theatre Trust 2000, a registered charity set up by Sally Greene. In 2003 it was announced that The Old Vic would once again become a producing house. Kevin Spacey was appointed first artistic director of The Old Vic Theatre Company.

So if you see an apparition of a dumpy, matronly figure usually wearing a sable cape lined with bright mauve over a black taffeta coat with painted enamel buttons, you know who it is. Especially if she occupies the chair in her own private box. I hope you liked the stories of The Old Vic Theatre Horrors and Hauntings. Maybe you have seen the Old Vic’s ghost. Happy haunting from The Serial Ghost Story Teller.

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Andi
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Re: The Old Vic Theatre. Horrors and Hauntings
« Reply #3 on May 7, 2009, 8:16am »

Thanks Ron, it seems a real eerie place.
The mishaps after mishaps are really weird. I reckon it would be a real good place for an invest but far too expensive .

The story is very sad, but very well written, well done

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lloydrhd
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Re: The Old Vic Theatre. Horrors and Hauntings
« Reply #4 on May 8, 2009, 10:52am »

Andi, thanks for your kind words. There were many other incidents at The Old Vic that I came across, but I thought these were the most interesting. It appears that Miss Baylis must be fairly content at the moment, because she has not appeared in that empty seat at first nights. Happy Haunting from The Sewrial Ghost Story Teller.

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