Becky in the Media - "The Ghost Hunters" - Spirit & Destiny Magazine, April 2006
Text Transcript
The Ghost Hunters
This month, our ghost-busting team are treated to an encore of the spookiest kind as they perform a séance in one of Londons top theatres.
Medium Becky Walsh, a paranormal expert who teaches at the College of Psychic Studies, Kensington, London, teamed up with a psychic and researched Ian John Shillito. Both have worked as stage managers so they know just how much paranormal activity goes on after the curtain comes down.
Here, at the Queen's Theatre in London's Sogo, Becky uses psychic powers to tune into spirits. She and Ian explore spooky corridors and staircases with the theatre staff, along with some of Becky's students who are honing their psychic skills. Later, Ian researched the theatre's history to test the accuracy of their findings.
SPOOKY TALES
Emotions run high every night at the Queen's Theatre, home to the long-running musical Les Miserables. But people working there have reported being spooked by a string of eerie sightings and spine-chilling activity. There have been accounts of strange white mists, orbs of glowing bright light hovering above the stage and ghostly figures walking about the auditorium. Some have sensed presences and heard noises, only to find no one there. Late one night, chief electrician Mike Cordina was walking along a corridor that runs beside the upper circle, when he saw a middle aged man ahead of him, wearing a long grey cost with velvet lapels. He followed him, thinking he was someone from the show, but when they got to a dead end, the man simply disappeared into thin air, leaving Mike to hurry on alone.
On another occasion, usher Craig Russell caught a glimpse of a solitary old man sitting in the upper circle. When he turned to look at him properly the man had gone. Craig and other male staff have also felt the weight of someone's gaze upon them, watching them as they change into their uniforms in the stalls bar before the theatre opens.
Matt Smith, a spotlight operator, couldn't believe his eyes when he saw orbs floating about the stage during performances. After a big greeny blue, football sized ball of light appeared several times, floating in the middle of the stage, he knew something strange was going on.
Another time Matt felt a strong presence behind him. He heard the sound of a full skirt swishing and a draught of air, but when he spun around, nobody was there. The eerie figure of a woman has also been spotted from the Royal Box, even though the area was closed off to the public at the time.
Becky Says
Standing at the back of the auditorium, I pick up the ghost of a portly man in a grey suit. From the way he's busying himself, I feel he used to work in the theatre. I watch him stride through a wall at the back of the upper circle, which was once connected to the backstage area.
The atmosphere is thick with activity in this corridor, so we do our first table-tipping experiment here, calling up the spirits to see if anyone wants to communicate with us.
Five of us, including Craig and Matt, kneel in a circle around a wooden table, placing the tips of our splayed fingers very lightly on it's surface.
I begin the séance by protecting the group by imagining a white ball of light around us. I say out aloud, "Only spirits with the purest intention of education and light are allowed in this circle. We mean no harm in what we are doing, we're just here to find out about spirits seen around the building. Please tip the table to let us know you want to communicate".
The we all focus on bringing the spirits forward by saying, "If there is anybody there, please tip the table. Please tip it in any way you like, but make it move so we know you are ready to talk to us".
Everyone is holding their breath. Then, after a few minutes, the table slowly starts to move. We watch, wide-eyed, as it actually tips towards Craig. I scan the group, but there is no pushing going on - just the light touch of our fingertips.
As the table moves back, I ask the spirit to signify yes. It moves once towards Craig. Then I ask it to signify no & it tips twice. Everyone is silent as I begin to ask questions to find out just who, or what, is trying to contact us.
"Were you attached to the theatre?" I say. the table tips once for yes. "Did you work in the backstage area?" No. "Front of house?" Yes. "Are you male?" Yes "Have you got something to tell anyone here today?" I ask. the answer is Yes.
We go around, asking in turn if the message is for us. The table tips twice for No until we get to Craig, where it tips only once.
Suddenly I hear something via mediumship - a message from the spirit world - and repeat it out loud so the ghost and everyone else can hear.
"Do you find Craig attractive?" The table tips once towards Craig.
"Are you the ghost who watches Craig?" Yes. "Do you enjoy watching the men changing into their usher uniforms there?" Yes.
We cant believe it. We've found our first gay ghost - in the Queens Theatre!
As this spirit has come to us, I wonder aloud if he wants to be released from the theatre. But he doesn't want to go & we cant force him.
As the séance worked, we try it in another part of the theatre. The table moves towards James, one of my psychic students. He felt a breeze on his neck, as though someone was behind him.
I ask the spirit if a long tip of the table signifies Yes. The table tips slowly towards James. To signify No, the spirit moves the table very gently twice, so we can now ask questions.
James asks if it's a woman as we agree this presence has a different energy to the man. The answer is yes. Asking questions, we find she is not connected to the theatre and that she doesn't have a message for anyone - she's here to help us.
Then, in an inspired moment, Ian asks "Did you die in the Blitz when a bomb hit the theatre?" She answers Yes. She was a passer-by in a car and dies immediately in the explosion.
Matt says he sees a uniform so we ask if she was in the military or a nurse. She answers No. The James sees a grey uniform. "You were a nanny weren’t you" I whisper. Yes.
We try to get her name as Matt and James are picking up "Em, but not the letter M, the name Em, as in Emily?"
She answers Yes. James can see her spirit clearly now, which he says he will draw for us later. By this point we all feel really connected to Emilys presence and honoured that we've been able to chat with another spirit.
Ian Says
It was incredible to make a link to the person people have sensed in the bar - the spirit of a gay man who'd worked at the theatre when his sexuality would have been taboo. Could he be the bustling front of house manager Becky saw walking through the wall?
When I researched the site after the séance, I saw old photos of the theatre, and in that spot there was a door to an old management office. In the Second World War, when a bomb hit the theatre on 24th September 1940, the whole front of the building was ripped off. When it was rebuilt, they build over the door.
I've discovered bomb reports that tell you what kind of bomb fell, how much damage was done and the number of people who died, but no names. But it confirms three people were killed that day, so one of them could have been a nanny called Emily. The floating orbs are a manifestation of spirit and a strong indicator of a presence here. And researching this areas history, I discover the corner where the theatre sits was occupied by one of Londons original theatres & is one of the earliest parts of Soho to be built around 300 years ago.
The Queens Theatre opened in 1907 and has been the home to many shows ever since, providing the opportunity for people to leave their imprints here.