There is a strong association with ghosts and the theater (aside from Ibsen’s play “Ghosts”).
Many people are aware of the “ghost light,” a single bare bulb on a metal pole left on in theaters. Such a light has practical purposes.
It can prevent people from accidentally falling on a dark stage.
It gives enough light to see potential hazardous conditions such as cables and rope, steps, and open trapdoors and for staff entering in the dark.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
It also allows crew to find controls, especially the ones to turn on the auditorium and stage lights.
On the other hand, performance is a “dangerous” occupation.
Maybe not in terms of physical safety (although sometimes that, too) but there are many things that can go wrong during a performance that are not easily controlled — if controlled at all!
Will an audience like the performance? Will everyone remember their lines or what they are supposed to do? Will the technical pieces all go smoothly?
These are just some of the things that can go wrong.
Many people in occupations with some risks become involved with some sort of religious or “magical” practices before becoming involved in their work.
This is true for sailors, baseball players, dancers and a host of other occupations. In those cases, people tend to have a kind of “rituals” they do for protection.
Boxers, wrestlers, divers and the like can often be seen crossing themselves or performing other gestures, saying things, wearing a specific article of clothing and so on.
Theater is of course, also a place of magic.
Not just pulling rabbits out of a hat like a magician does, but what goes on at the stage is something magical.
Everyone involved, from the audience to the crew and the performers, are all transformed by the performance.
The audience is taken to a different world and the performers are also changed as they become the people they are not but the characters in the performance.
So, of course, it is not surprising that one feels the ghosts of the past in a theater — the ghosts of the characters created and then abandoned, the ghosts of past performances.
So, these ghosts are shown great respect by performers and need to be treated properly.
If they aren’t, they might take it as a sign of disrespect of themselves and the profession and cause mischief by making mistakes happen, which might ruin the performance! So, one of the functions in this supernatural realm of the ghost light is to leave it on for the ghosts.
On the other hand, some feel it may ward off mischievous spirits who might be a kind of practical joker and keep them away from the stage.
Is the Saenger a theater with one or more ghosts?
Who can say?
The Friends of the Saenger gives tours of the theater at night for ghost hunters who would like to find out!
You can check with us if you have a group that would like to see the theater — at night — in the dark.
You can even bring equipment for checking on ghosts and other apparitions.
For more information, email: saengertheater@saengertheaterpinebluff.com.
John Beatty, who has a doctorate from City University of New York, is an author and retired educator in Brooklyn, N.Y., and occasionally teaches at Brooklyn College.