Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Kings Theatre, Southsea
Friday 23rd July 2010
Attending Investigators – Julie Harwood, Mark Wright, Sarah Pettet, Mark Pettet, Rob Butler, Simon Steadman, Rachel Steadman, Kieran Gillingham, Jane Gillingham, Steve Boston, Brian Witt, Emma Curtis & Robin Turton.
Guests – Sue Marsh & Danae Hamling
Host – Guy
History
Courtesy of The Kings Theatre
This dignified and beautiful theatre - with its Italian Renaissance style of decor - is one of the best examples of the elegant Edwardian playhouses to be found in the British Isles and one of the few remaining traditional hemp houses. It is the result of the vision and business acumen of John Walter Boughton and the architectural prowess of Frank Matcham, one of the greatest of theatre architects. Although Frank Matcham is much respected and his work is becoming well documented, J W Boughton remains largely unknown outside Portsmouth.
In the mid-1850s, the theatre manager Henry Rutley arrived in Portsmouth and took over the Landport Hall. His previous experience in both theatre and circus persuaded him that a theatre could not only be made profitable but would also be a social asset to the town. With only a licence for a limited period he had the faith to re-open the Landport Hall as the New Theatre Royal in 1856. J W Boughton became his assistant and, after the death of both Henry Rutley and his successor J C Hughes, Boughton took over the reins of the Portsmouth Theatre Company in 1882. One of Boughton's first decisions was to undertake a major rebuild of his theatre. To do so he engaged the most famous theatre architect of the day, C A Phipps, who had earlier built the Gaiety, the Theatre Royal and the Haymarket in London, as well as undertaking commissions for the Theatre Royal in Bath, Brighton and Nottingham. This was the Boughton style - to go for the best and to be commercially bold.
In 1882 the Prince's Theatre in Lake Road was destroyed by fire and two years later Boughton purchased the land adjoining the site, so that it had a greater potential when he could afford to rebuild. This he did in 1891, employing the eminent theatre architect Frank Matcham to undertake the work. He employed the same architect yet again to rebuild the New Theatre Royal in 1900, and he took him into his confidence early in the century when he began to discuss the building of a theatre in Southsea. So confident was he that Boughton paid for the initial design out of his own pocket, only disclosing his action to his company in June 1906. He was reimbursed for every penny and his foresight was approved, so that this theatre - the Kings - became the third theatre owned by the Portsmouth Theatre Company.
Opening night, 30th September 1907, was a most glittering occasion. H B Irving, son of the great Sir Henry, played three of his father's successes in the first week, The Lyons Mail, The Bells and Charles 1 (which was the first show to be shown). On the opening night, as the curtain rose, the Portsmouth Orpheus Society played the National Anthem - in which the audience joined most heartily. J W Boughton died in 1914 but his Company continued to operate the Kings Theatre until 1964 when Commander Reggie & Mrs Joan Cooper purchased it. In 1990 Hampshire County Council bought the Theatre, but Mrs Cooper stayed and was joined by Mr 1 S Barnes as Co-lessees.
J W Boughton's daughter married Julian Bainbridge, who became for many years the manager of the Kings. They had a daughter, the actress Hazel Bainbridge, who was a shareholder in the Portsmouth Theatre Company. Hazel Bainbridge is the mother of two actresses (Kate O'Mara and Belinda Carroll), both of whom have played at the Kings along with practically all the great names of the English stage, and in recent years the Theatre has had many 'prior to London' productions. Actress Dillie Keane, leading lady of "Fascinating Aida" is a local Southsea doctor's Daughter and an usher in her youth at the theatre. Dillie Keane and Kate O'Mara are proud to be patrons of the theatre.
In 2001, after a successful campaign by AKTER (Action for Kings Theatre Restoration) to keep the theatre open, it was bought by Portsmouth City Council and leased to the Kings Theatre Trust Ltd who took responsibility for the building's restoration and repair. This trust leased the building in turn to an operating company, Kings Theatre Southsea Ltd, who operated and maintained the building on a day to day basis and put on the programme of shows. After a seemingly successful 18 months the operating company went bankrupt, and the Kings Theatre Trust had to take over the operation of the theatre to prevent it from total closure. This Trust has been running the theatre for over a year, and many successful shows have been held, with many more to come.
The Investigation
Vigil Teams
Team 1
Rob
Mark P
Robin
Emma
Danae
Team 2
Julie
Mark W
Kieran
Jane
Simon
Team 3
Sarah
Steve
Brian
Rachel
Sue
Vigil Areas
The "Theatre" which includes - Dress Circle & boxes, The Gods "Upper Gallery" & Stalls.
Surrounding 1 - under the stage & on the stage, dressing rooms and any area's between the team rooms & the main auditorium (which mean you do not cross through the auditorium).
Surrounding 2 - foyer, corridors, back staircase, the hexagonal room and any other available areas that are after you have crossed through the auditorium.
Itinerary
7.45pm Team meet outside rear entrance to theatre
8.00pm Meet host and unpack in team room
9.00pm Vigil 1
Team 1 – Theatre
Team 2 – Surrounding 1
Team 3 – Surrounding 2
10.15pm Break
10.30pm Vigil 2
Team 1 – Surrounding 2
Team 2 – Theatre
Team 3 – Surrounding 1
11.30pm Break
11.45pm Vigil 3
Team 1 – Surrounding 1
Team 2 – Surrounding 2
Team 3 – Theatre
1.15am Pack up
1.45am Depart
Personal Reports
Julie Harwood
Our first vigil of the night was under the stage. We began by all sitting quietly and taking a few pictures. A few light anomalies were captured however we were happy to explain these as dust particles which we could see were moving about as we had just moved and arranged the chairs. After a short while we started calling out. We did not seem to be getting any responses that were clear (only a few knocks which we believe were the team in the auditorium settling down for their vigil). After a couple more minutes we noticed that out of no where there was an emf reading. We had taken emf readings and temperature readings on entering the area and nothing abnormal had been noted however this was quite a high spike. The most incredible thing I think is that it seemed to move on command. We asked it to move to Simon who had got up and walked away from the group and in seconds the emf meter Simon was holding spiked. We then asked it to move back to where we were sat and unbelievably the emf Simon was holding stopped spiking and the one Mark was holding in the group spiked. Mark also thought he saw a face appear in front of him for a couple of seconds when he turned round. After a bit more calling out we decided to move up to the dressing rooms to see if we could get anything there. Just for note the emf readings we were getting had no disappeared (?) Mark sat near a locked door which we believe led back to under the stage and a number of us saw lights moving around the door. This was interesting as this room was very well lit even with the lights turned off, due to the street lights outside. Each time we witnessed the lights we were able to discount traffic or outside influence. In this room Kieran sensed a woman in a white dress who had been pushed down through the door that we kept seeing the lights around. He was getting the image of her very strongly in this area. I had a very odd experience with a mirror in here. I was feeling restless so while the others sat I stood and after a while turned my back on the group and looked at them in the mirror. This was not a conscious decision and I am not sure what made me do it really. I could see everyone in the mirror sat in their seats but could not make out features very well. I counted them in my head, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and chuckled silently to myself that "yes they were all there". I then turned round and retook my seat to join in the conversation they were having about the loud fireworks outside. It took me a good 5 minutes or so to realise my mistake and sadly it was then too late. I had counted 5 people (shapes) in the mirror. There were 5 people in the team that was correct but I was looking in the mirror and I was the 5th person and I know I only counted people sat down. There were only 4 people sat down, not 5. Kieran, Jane, Mark & Simon. That gave me one of those heart skipping moments but I was gutted as it just did not dawn on me at the time! No one felt at ease in this area and we all seemed quite glad to leave at the end of the vigil.
After a break our next vigil was in the auditorium. We split the team to take key positions / vantage points in the theatre. Mark stayed on the ground level in front of the stage. Simon and I went to one of the boxes (left of the stage) and Kieran and Jane went to the other box (right of the stage). We did not get much in this area which was a shame however Mark did seem to pick up a dark moving shadow but I think it best to leave him to explain this.
Our final vigil was in the corridors surrounding the auditorium. This was an incredible vigil for us. At one point both Mark and I thought we were talking to Kieran while looking at a photo I had taken. What neither of us realised is that Kieran started stood by us but then went and sat down further along the corridor. Mark & I thought he was stood next to Mark the whole time and neither of us saw him leave to sit down. There was definitely something stood next to Mark but it obviously was not Kieran!
Many times in this area we heard a door bang close to us but we could not find the source of this noise. The doors near us (to the bar I believe) were locked and so there is no way this could have slammed to create the noise and we checked every other unlocked door and none of them sounded the same. We checked with all other teams by radio and none of them had made or heard the noise. Every time we sat down it seemed to happen again but we could never pinpoint its source. This was confusing and if we had not known better (the whole theatre was locked and Guy was in the office) we would have said someone was playing a joke on us.
Again a very very interesting night at the Kings theatre, again throwing up something new for the team. This is why I never tire of going back there!
Mark Wright
Vigil 1:
Surrounding 1:
Our first vigil saw us in the cellar/under the stage. We all sat in a circle at the bottom of the cellar and started calling out. We got nothing audible but the EMF meter seemed to pick up something which moved when we asked it to, we tracked this for some time and each time it moved where we asked it to.
During this vigil I turned round with a start as I saw a face right next to mine which disappeared as soon as I turned. (A similar thing happened later on in the evening)
We then moved up to the dressing room and made ourselves comfortable. During this vigil several of us saw lights appearing in a number of places, mostly around a blocked off door where I was sitting.
During this vigil we were all concentrating on this door when my camcorder decided to zoom itself in despite my hand being nowhere near the zoom button.
I didn't feel comfortable at all in this room, and felt quite anxious by the time we left.
Vigil 2:
Theatre:
During this vigil we split up to replicate as best we could the positioning when we saw "The Kings man" on a previous visit. This meant I was on the ground floor in front of the stage. During my time there I noticed what seemed like a black cloud blocking out the light on a certain batch of seats, I couldn't get any readings of this and nothing came up on camera. Unfortunately the man didn't make an appearance this time. We had a camera pointing at where he appeared and one pointing down to the back of the theatre, nothing was picked up on either camera.
Vigil 3:
Surrounding 2:
Without a doubt, this was the most active vigil of the night for us.
A number of times we heard a door bang very loudly close to us, eventually we pin pointed which door this was and looked for any explanations. We could not find a cause for the banging whatsoever. All of this was picked up on video and audio tape.
In between the doors banging Julie was showing Kieran and I a picture on her camera, we both stood in front of her leaning over to see the camera screen. Kieran was to my left and unbeknown to me went and sat down, about 30 seconds after this I turned round to talk to him as I could see out the corner of my eye someone stood where he was. As I turned around this "figure" disappeared. Julie was adamant she also saw someone next to me too and had not realised Kieran was now sat down further down the corridor.
Sarah Pettet
Team – Rachel, Steve, Brian, Sue and myself
Vigil 1
Foyer, stair wells
We started in the corridor between the theatre and foyer. We took photos and called out but had no responses; it was quite light in this part. We heard a loud noise further down the corridor but discovered it had come from outside and was heard clearly due to a broken window. We decided to move on to the stairwells, the first one we did not have any responses on, so we took the walkover corridor to the other stair well. Here we were feeling and sensing quite a bit. At one point we were sat outside the old ticket booth/cloakroom and heard a noise like a door rattling. We went up to where we heard it (the door to the tower room which is now offices) the door was locked and there did not appear to be any way in which the door could have rattled on its own. We settled down on the stairs around this door. I got a sense of people rushing out of the building on these stairs. We heard some noises down the stairs and is girls ran down to where we thought it was but when we got there we realised it was just fire works outside. We all walked back to the room which connected the two stair wells. Up here we keep hearing footsteps and noises on the stairwell going up to the gods, but we got no responses to call outs, nor could we de bunk what was causing the noises as we were the only team on this side of the building. At one point I picked up on a 'spirit' as it rushed through me. Also my torch, which I always use and have no problems with, decided to give up!
Vigil 2
Back of stage, under stage and on stage
We went under the stage first, we called out etc. But we got no responses. It was a bit cooler under here. We got a reaction a couple of times on the EMF but nothing substantial. We went up to the laundry room. We set the EMF on the floor in the centre of the room and called out but go no responses. We began generally chatting and the EMF then started to go off. We stopped called out no responses, nothing. Started chatting again and the EMF went off again! Every time we turned our attention to it, it would stop. As we were not getting direct responses we decided to move to the stage. We all sat in a circle on here, took photos , called out, we didn't get any responses but all of us
Vigil 3
Theatre
We sat in the stalls to begin with, and called out etc. Nothing specific happened here so we moved up to the next level (except Rachel who remained in the stalls). We sat in the boxes on the left of the stage. The boys were seeing movements on the other side of the stage, and we heard noises it seemed on the stairs just outside the box. Steve went to investigate taking my torch. He found nothing but thought he saw something on the other side of the theatre so put my torch down to check. He checked the trigger objects as he went past and they looked as if they may have moved slightly. Rachel came up to check them. Steve found nothing and came back but couldn't find my torch as it was not on the seat he had left it on. Rachel helped him look for it and they found it 3 rows back from where he put and in a different position to how he had left it! The boys began taking several shots of the other side of the theatre and in one Brian had what appears to be a figure moving down by the seats in the stalls – none of our team was down there and no other team was in the theatre. All too soon we ran out of time.
Summary – Kings was as promising as it was the last time I visited, with different experiences. I would have had to have a bit more time – maybe another hour to see if we could have got anymore responses in the theatre. Also would have liked to perhaps tried a few experiments here.