Related: Ghost stories I have known, White Rock hauntings, redux
Here’s a question for all you ghost-hunters out there.
If a building is haunted, what happens to the ghosts when it gets torn down – or undergoes a really extreme makeover?
That’s something I’ve been wondering ever since the White Rock Playhouse got a complete overhaul a few years ago. Turns out I’m not alone. A recent item in the latest issue of the tourist-oriented freebie guide, Discover the Peninsula (a publication of the Peace Arch News), has an article wondering the same thing.
In 2006, the landmark 1532 Johnston Rd. theatre underwent an extensive renovation and expansion project, utterly transforming the original structure, a former Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall that was converted into a theatre and fitted with a stage in 1960. When the latest overhaul was complete, it was renamed the Coast Capital Playhouse to reflect the name of one of the major sponsors of the $1.6 million reno.
Then, as now, the building is home to the award-winning White Rock Players, one of the longest-running community theatre groups in B.C. They formed back in 1944, giving the group plenty of time to build its well-deserved reputation – and collect its share of ghosts; as many as 18 different spirits, according to one psychic.
Before the renos, actors spoke of a mysterious woman in white who could be seen ascending to the dressing rooms only to vanish.
More often, they heard unexplained noises in various parts of the theatre that weren’t being used, particularly during rehearsal, when the rest of the building was supposed to be empty.
Late president, actor and director Scott Wheeler in 2004 described an eerie incident from a few years earlier. He and another actor were rehearsing alone in the locked building one night when they heard the sound of a woman’s loud sigh wafting down from somewhere above them in the rafters.
“We didn’t know if this was a sign of approval, or if they were bored,” Wheeler told the newspaper.
If you’re acquainted with ghost story lore, you’re probably well aware haunted theatres aren’t exactly rare.
Whether it’s the case that so many strong emotions are played out across their stages, or that actors love attention – even after they’ve gone – numerous theatres around the world are famously reputed to be haunted, a fact that never seems to hurt ticket sales.
Flash forward to 2009, three years after the building’s mega makeover. So, is White Rock’s playhouse still haunted?
Seems the jury is still out, the article concludes, offering up the possibility that a “yes” verdict could eventually come in.
Although the front lobby, entrance and other areas of the building were completely re-done, the stage, backstage and dressing room were left nearly untouched by the recent upgrade, the article points out.
Maybe the many ghosts of the White Rock Playhouse just need some more time to adjust to their new, considerably upgraded surroundings.
Or maybe they’re mourning the loss of the club’s former president, a driving force at the playhouse who sadly passed away in 2006, just before the newly-refurbished theatre was to open its doors again. It might take some time for the news to sink in, and it might be that the theatre club’s digs just don’t seem the same without him.
Perhaps they need to be wooed back.
Prior to the renos, the playhouse’s ghostly gifts had been featured on an episode of the Discovery Channel TV show Creepy Canada.
That episode’s host, John Adams, author and researcher, also conducts Victoria’s wonderful Ghostly Walks tours. Adams is a natural story-teller: he’s dramatic, has a dry sense of humour, and is simmering with arcane and expert knowledge, specializing in those dark, spooky places where local history and paranormal folklore intersect. Surely he might know?
Last year, during a ghostly walking tour of Victoria’s downtown core, I asked him if the “new” playhouse in White Rock would still be haunted.
He said he didn’t know, a reply that left me oddly unsatisfied. But then again, that’s so often the case with stories about hauntings – they refuse to follow a satisfying narrative arc.
Related: Ghost stories I have known, White Rock hauntings, redux
