On Sunday 19th February 2017, Twilight Shadows Paranormal conducted a paranormal investigation at the Plaza Theatre in Romsey, Hampshire. The Plaza was was built in 1931 as a cinema. It later became a bingo hall before becoming derelict for several years until it became a theatre which it still is today.
We arrived at the Plaza and were given a guided tour by Claire who has been a volunteer at the theatre for a very long time. We split into teams and commenced with our investigation.
AUDITORIUM AND STAGE
Several people wanted to start with a séance and so we assembled around a table on the stage. I opened up a protective circle and 'called out.' Quite quickly, Rachel told me that she could feel the table moving slightly and knocking faintly. I couldn't feel anything so I placed the Geophone onto the table so I would be able to see any subtle knocking or movement. There was a scratchy sound on the table. I asked if there were any spirits present and if there were, could they please speak using the equipment that Andrew was using. Immediately, we all heard a voice emitted from the equipment, saying “Enjoy.” It was like a loud whisper. We all felt an energy building and I could feel a very cold presence very close behind me. The table started vibrating and there was now a cold breeze whirling around in front of us. Eventually, the table stopped moving and we decided to investigate the dressing room area.
DRESSING ROOMS
During our walk-around the theatre earlier, several members of the team had felt quite a heavy atmosphere as we walked into the dressing rooms. As we re-entered, the atmosphere was not nearly as strong as it had been earlier, although it was still there. I 'called out' and tried to get a response. I could hear the sound of footsteps walking around at the end. It also felt as if there was a presence who was just there, not communicating with us but listening. Nothing happened for quite a while and we started to talk amongst ourselves and as always when we do this, we were stopped by a strange noise in the room. We could all feel that we were not alone but it was not as strong as before. I decided to try an experiment that I was once part of with Jacky, Dave and Andrew, during a paranormal investigation that we attended with another group. We stood in a circle, holding hands. I did a small visualisation with the group to raise the energy which traveled clockwise around the circle. The object of the exercise was to see if the energy caused your body to move without you actually moving consciously yourself. The results were pretty impressive last time and I had been lowered gently to the ground, along with several other people. This time, some people's joined hands were slowly raised and some people were forced to lean sideways or forward and back. During this time, we heard lots of tapping around the room.
PROJECTION ROOM
Ben had been up here on his own and sitting inside a very small room within it for fifteen minutes. Matt had previously told Ben that he'd experienced activity in there. Ben came out and stood talking to me and I saw movement behind him. Ben had not felt anything in the little room but just before he came out, he heard a breath as if someone breathed out slowly. Andrew joined us and told us that Jacky, Dave and Matt said that that their vigil was active in the projection room so we were hopeful. We sat quietly and the Ovilus emitted the words, 'Queue, bright, weeps and cast.' Andrew went into the small room by himself to see if he would experience anything. I ' called out.' I didn't feel anything much but suddenly Ben shouted that he had just seen a bright, white light shooting upwards. Ben's equipment began to pick up some positive readings.
Andrew came out of the small room and said that although the temperature seemed to drop in there, he didn't experience anything else. Matt joined us and said that when he'd been in this room, he had seen a shadow figure and that something had slammed into one of the cupboards. He said that he'd also heard sounds on the roof and he had asked Claire if anything was up there but she didn't think that there was. Dan and Tracy came to join us and we stayed for a while. Nothing else of a paranormal nature occurred inside the projection room.
STAGE
We joined together with Jacky, Dave and most of the team and we decided to try the experiment again. We stood in a circle, holding hands and very quickly, some of us found that our arms were rising. Tracy found herself leaning forward and something seemed to be pushing Caroline.
Dave had been downstairs in the dressing room and came up to the stage, saying that he had heard loud banging, like heavy footsteps stomping over the stage. We had all been standing very still so we could not explain what Dave had heard.
We stood around the table and Jacky 'called out.' The table started vibrating. Once contact had been made, we heard tapping on the table which responded to our questions. We asked for the spirit to tap out how many of them there were with us. There were three definitive taps. The table then started shaking. Dave 'called out' and there were a couple of knocks and something kept pinging the table leg really hard. We heard a strange noise a little way, away from us but still on the stage. We asked if the spirit would close the curtains or turn the stage lights on. It didn't.
I stamped my feet on the stage floor and asked if the spirit could do the same. There was a noise but not so loud as the noise I had made. The table started to move and the pinging sound on the table leg started again. We asked for bangs on the table but the table started to move instead. We had to stop it from going off of the stage. It moved again.
Rachel asked if it was a lady and we all started laughing as she made it sound like a 'Little Britain' sketch. There was knocking on the table and I asked if we could hear their footsteps and we heard a sound that sounded like a step. Ben said “Did you hear that?” He said that he had heard a voice mumble “Mmm mmm.” Matt heard it as well.
The table started whizzing around the stage and eventually it stopped but shuddered and then lifted. Claire joined us and the table continued to judder. We could see on our equipment that the temperature was dropping rapidly and we could really feel it physically. Sarah joined us at the table and the table was shoved. The Geophone was lighting up as it was picking up on all the vibrations. The table was giving us such a performance and we thought that as we were on stage, we would stop and give it a round of applause. Following this, all was quiet and we asked if this was the interval.
Jacky thought that she saw someone watching us up in the projection room. Everyone was accounted for so it was not one of the team. We then heard a noise up there. We still wanted to know if the spirit was male or female. We felt like it was both and so we asked:
Are you male? Yes.
Did you play a female? Yes.
Were you a dame? Yes.
We mischievously said, “He's behind you” and “Oh no, he's not.” We could feel the energy building. We asked:
Are you a pantomime dame? Yes.
Jacky said that they are her favourite and there were two loud knocks. I asked when he died and was informed that it was during the last twenty years. I asked:
Are you here all the time? NO.
As we discovered that he came only in visitation, the temperature started to drop more. We asked:
Did you play in Cinderella? No.
We listed a lot of the pantomimes and received yes and no answers. Jacky asked if this spirit ever played in Sherlock Holmes and we received an affirmative response. Jacky said that she'd been picking that information up as soon as we linked with this spirit.
Dave said that he could see someone up in the projection room. The whole team were accounted for and the theatre doors were locked so there wasn't anyone up there. Jacky said that she could see it too. I thought that I could see movement up there as well. We asked:
Are you here on your own? No.
So another spirit is here with us? Yes.
Was that person an actor? No.
We started to list theatre jobs but we did not solve this mystery.
I remembered that this building had at one time been a cinema and the spirit gave us an affirmative response. I could envisage an old wartime energy and could imagine PATHAY news. Dave could still see someone up in the projection room and I saw something up in the next window too.
DRESSING ROOM
Claire joined us. She told us that she didn't like one end of the dressing room. She had previously heard coat hangers rattling and the curtains seemed to move. Jacky said that she felt that she knew which end of the room that Claire disliked and she was right. We thought we heard footsteps in the room with us and Dave heard a giggle.
Jacky started to 'call out' and we could hear tapping and possibly footsteps too. These noises went on for quite a while and we could not really work out where it was coming from. I asked for the noises to be louder and Dave thought that it sounded like someone was rearranging something, just moving things around. Dave asked the spirit to move the wheelchair. Now, that would be creepy and I think we were all slightly glad that the wheelchair did not move.
There was a big tap to the left of Matt. The room started to get colder. There were a lot of polystyrene heads on a shelf. Dave asked if they could be moved. They did not move but we heard a big knock, followed by another knock. It was getting colder and colder and Jacky suddenly sprang up and said that she had to move as she felt uncomfortable with her back to the door. Matt heard a male voice which said, “Mmm mmm” and Lauren also heard it. The rest of us heard a rumbling sound. We sat around in silence for a while and Dave suddenly got frustrated and said, “Come on, do something” and I heard a voice crossly say, “What?” This voice has been captured as an EVP and has been downloaded onto the team Facebook pages.
Following this, there was a lot of tapping and vibrating near to where Jacky and Dave was sitting. This continued for a considerable time and we didn't find a rational cause. It was getting late and we decided to end the investigation. On behalf of the Twilight Shadows Paranormal team, I would like Tracy and Daniel for arranging this investigation and for Claire who was our host for the evening. We really enjoyed it.
Written by: Maria Williams
JACKY'S REPORT
Our next investigation was (to me) at a very exciting place; The Plaza Theatre in Romsey.
A little bit of history…
The Plaza was built in 1931 as a cinema. It became a bingo hall in the 1970s, and then lay derelict for some years until it was bought by the Romsey Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (RAODS). They converted the building into a theatre with two performing spaces – the 231-seat main auditorium, the Greenroom bar and refreshment area, which doubles as a 45-seat studio space. RAODS have owned and operated the theatre since 1982.
As this is a working Theatre, our investigation was scheduled to start quite late and more unusually, on a Sunday. Still; being serious and dedicated Paranormal Investigators, this did not put us off. Once everyone from the team had arrived, we were given a tour of the available areas and taken through our plan of action and escape routes (should a fire alarm sound).
For our first location, Dave, Matt and I went to the lighting and sound booth which is said to have an ominous presence lurking in there. I set up a Dictaphone and a video recorder and sat at one end of the lighting booth. Dave set up his video camera and sat at the other end of the booth and Matt stood in a separate area where one of the spotlights is kept. While in there, Matt described that he felt that he was not alone and could see a shadow moving around him. He got the name Gregory which he said out loud. He said that when he did this, the shadow stopped in front of him. He then came out and Dave went in. As Dave went into the smaller room, Matt and I heard something strike one of the metal cabinets in the room with us. Neither Matt nor I had moved to possibly kick or knock anything over. In fact, we were both sitting down. Once in the room, Dave also said he felt that he was being watched. He said that he thought he could see something moving in his peripheral vision. He came out and I went in. Dave came in with me. I admit that the small room did feel different. However, there is a lot of electrical equipment in there. Could this be throwing out large amounts of EMF’s (Electromagnetic fields)? EMF’s are proven to affect people who are sensitive to them.
We all went into the larger area of the lighting and sound booth. Matt said that while we were in the smaller room, he could see a shadow moving out from where we were and moved towards where he was. He also said that he saw a light anomaly with his naked eye, (not through a night vision camera). We stood around in the room. I can honestly say I could sense an energy moving around us and did see a few light anomalies through the video recorder. As we had spent quite a while in this area, we felt it was a good time to move on.
We went and joined Tracy and Dan’s team for a few minutes in the bar area. However; as soon as we did, any activity they had experienced using the spirit board seemed to cease. I waited a few more minutes and told them that it was most likely because we had interrupted them. We left them to their experiment and went and sat on the stage area for a bit.
Our next area was down in the changing rooms. Dave and Matt decided to try a bit of scrying.* Scrying is the practice of looking into a suitable medium (mirror, water etc.) in the hope of detecting significant messages or visions. Nostradamus practised scrying; he would stare into a bowl of water or a "magic mirror" to see the future while he was in trance.
I do not feel comfortable scrying so I opted to film their experiment and take notes. Dave noticed straight away that his face started to take on different features. Dave explained that he could see features of an older man with a heavy brow and clean shaven. Matt also noticed that his features were altering and explained that he could see something similar. He asked Dave if his right eye felt strange. Dave confirmed that it did and it appeared to be drooping.
A few of the others had started to filter in and were stood watching. As quite a few of them had never been on an investigation before, we invited them to have a go at scrying. As this was a changing room, there was a lot of mirror to go around. After this experiment was completed, it was felt that now would be a good time to have a break. While the others went, we decided to stay for a bit longer. Areas of the changing room were off limits due to costumes being prepped and ready for the morning’s performance. I did have a sneaky look behind some of the curtains however, and did notice that one of the areas curtained off did not feel very nice.
I decided to go and find Maria so left Dave and Matt to it. When I found Maria she reminded me of an experiment we had taken part in during an organised investigation with another events team. She wondered if it might be worth us trying to recreate it. I agreed it would be a good idea.
After a short break, Maria and I had most of the team stand around on the stage in the circle. Maria led a visualisation exercise to encourage energy to build and aid our experiment. This experiment can be quite alarming but fun to do. During the experiment, people experienced the urge to rock, step forward and sit on the floor. Others hands would raise. It feels as it something (you cannot see) influencing you to do this. We then tried a bit of table tipping. *Table-turning (also known as table-tapping, table-tipping or table-tilting) is a type of séance in which participants sit around a table, place their hands on it, and wait for rotations. Quite quickly, we experienced the table moving and heard knocking noises coming from underneath the table. During this experiment, we appeared to be talking to a male actor that had visited the Plaza Theatre and had been a Dame in a pantomime. I got the feeling that the actor's favourite role had been Sherlock Holmes. The table rapped twice which we took to mean yes. Of course we have no way to prove this.
Some of us moved back down to the changing rooms. While here we did start to hear a metallic ringing noise and the counter that Dave and I were sat next to was vibrating quite violently. We eventually worked out that the ringing noise was a metal leg (holding this counter up) vibrating. We did not really get to the bottom of what was causing this vibration but it seemed to stop when we moved away from the counter. Maybe one of us had accidentally set this off or maybe it was spirit activity acting in the same way as if we were holding a séance around a table? We decided to call it a night from here, as it was getting late.
I would like to thank Tracy and Dan for arranging this amazing location and a big thank you to everyone involved which made tonight another amazing investigation.
Jacky Wicheard ©
TRACY'S REPORT
After an initial walk around with the lights on, we all met in the auditorium. We split into a few teams. Our team included Daniel, myself, Sarah, Emma, Coralie, Rachel, Gareth, Lucy + Matthew E.
We made contact with a spirit who would not give us a name but said they were in the corner of the room and they liked Sarah. They did not seem to want to answer our questions. The spirit seemed to want to confuse us as they first said they died in 1949 and they were 29 when they died, but when I asked what year they were born they said 1938 which we worked out would make them 11. At this moment, another team came in to join us and the activity then suddenly stopped. We did not seem to be able to bring the spirit back so we decided to go back down to see what the others were doing. We did some table tipping as a group and the table was spinning around in circles and was very active.
After this, Daniel and myself went up to the projector/lighting room and we sat in the dark, calling out. After a little while, we heard 2 loud knocks that was not made by Daniel or myself. They were very loud and clear and no mistaking that they came from inside the room with us but as suddenly as it started, it stopped so we went back and found our team.
We went down to the dressing room with our team and met Jacky & Dave, who were scrying. Some of the team had a go too and interestingly they all described seeing the same elderly man who was blind in 1 eye.
After a break, we took our team back up to the bar room and quickly made contact with the same spirit from earlier. They still did not tell us their name but did repeat the same responses as earlier saying they died in 1949 and they were 29. This time I asked him to count how many people were in the room and it counted 9, which was close as there was 10 of us at this point. We then asked how many females were there and it counted 6 which was correct. After this we said our goodbyes to the spirit, and went back to the main auditorium and this is where our most exciting event of the evening happened.
We all walked down to the stage and were starting to gather around the table to have a go at some more table tipping when we all heard the door which is on the stage open and shut. For a minute, we all assumed someone from our group had gone through it but then we realised they had not. At this point, I said we should watch the door and see if it happened again. With all of us watching, the door opened halfway and it seemed to be being held there but we could not see anyone there. I shouted, “If that is a spirit holding the door, shut it now” and the door slammed shut with such force it made us all jump. We went straight over and investigated and there was nobody there in the hall way. The door was not the type to be able to hold itself open halfway like it did.
We all then sat on the chairs watching the stage door to see if it did it again but nothing more happened. At this point we all decided it was very late and decided to call it a night.
Written by: Tracy Hughes
