Theater 1 “The Forgotten Play”
It is not uncommon for a theater to claim that it is haunted. What is strange is the intensity in which people refuse to discuss the supposed haunting of the theater on Wellington Street. The old theater is one of only slight renown, and it would seem that the sharing of information of a haunting would only draw people in. However, during my research into the place, some people were strangely resistant in sharing information about their experiences there.
The people in question are not just locals. There are also visitors who passed through, or who came from adjoining communities to see a play. No matter where they came from, the thing that unites them is an oddly pervasive need to keep such experiences to themselves. If I had not in fact met with the owner of the place, and had I not made it clear that the information would be treated with anonymity, I may never had found out at all that there was anything going on.
According to the owner, the theater has been around for quite some time; almost as long as the area itself. However, a series of fires, as well as a need to update to certain city codes, caused the place to go through several renovations. According to him, the issues with the haunting started around 1923 when the theater was truly becoming a big thing in the area. Like many places at the time, the 1920's had proven to be good for everyone, and business was as good as anyone could remember.
In around April of that year, some people began to complain to the owner. They claimed that they wanted a refund, because they never went to see the show reported on the ticket. At first, the owner at the time simply wrote it off as people wanting to get a free show, but as time went on he began to notice that not only were the people sincere in their accusations but they actually thought that they were telling the truth. Not wanting to hurt his business, he investigated further, only to find that several of the patrons in question could be positively identified as having been at the productions.
The problem with this was that they could not remember seeing the show at all, not matter how much people would disclose details or reminisce. It was as if all memory of the experience had left them. When asked to recount what they saw, their memories would be hazy, as if trying to recall a dream.
People continued to have these experiences over the years, but the frequency decreased, until it became something that really only was known by the owner of the theater. What caused these people to forget has never been determined, but the memory loss seems to be only experienced by those visiting the theater and not those involved in productions. However, this is not the only thing that causes this theater to stand out, and it may be the following tragedy that has most contributed to the silence.
A significant minority of people who go to the theater have claimed to have had significant pain following the visit. Out of these, one stands out. In 1952, a young boy had a similar experience to the others. However, his experiences had ex-tended beyond the confines of the theater, and he began to dream about what he saw. The contents of his dream were disclosed to the parents, and to this day few details are known. What is known is that soon after sharing with his parents his dream, the boy fell into a coma and died.
Since then, many have come to the theater, and every once in a while, they have such an experience. What seems to do the most harm though, more than the forgetting or the embarrassment, is the fact that people who come upon the article about the boy seemed to have seen the same thing.
Authors Note: I was originally going to label this as a curse, instead of a haunting. When I went to post the piece, my page would not load at all. I changed the title, and since then, have had no further issues.
