NGI

... Head over to Haunted UK for a review of the general history and haunted history of the Darlington Civic Theater. Alternatively, use the table of contents to view the reports for each location.

Stage Area

The stage area stood - obviously - in front of the main Auditorium and was separate by a large heavy safety curtain.

On stage were a few background sets from the current Pantomime that was taking place at the Civic Theatre at the time of our investigation - namely a set of elaborate steps which dominated center stage. We added a medium sized table to the setting to be used for both Ouija and Table Tipping.

There was access to backstage on both of the wings and groups needed to be mindful of the fly-pit above - another location on the night - which would be occupied by another group.

Group 1 Report : Jay Claire Various Guests

The was our location immediately after the mid-investigation break and the theatre took a little time to settle.

Joining us in this location was Peter - the general floor manager of the location - who had previously experienced good results on the stage with Glass Divination's and Table Tipping (hence why we'd set the table up here).

We started with a glass divination and set about just trying to encourage any spirits present to just move the glass. And it did. It moved around the table quite smoothly. Although we attempted to explain the rules of the game - move this direction for a 'Yes' and that direction for a 'No' - nothing sensical came out of the experiment .. Merely a glass moving around the table.

We put the glass aside and moved straight onto table tipping hoping to get more of a direct communication. The table almost immediately began vibrating and rocking ever so slightly. At times the rocking would become more violent and at one point it lurched up onto one leg - the participants fearing it was about to tip right over. Fortunately, it soon righted itself.

After these two episodes, we never had much time left remaining for anything else and nothing else was reported.

Group 2 Report : Carol Julie Karl Lisa James Sharon

On this particular location/vigil we were joined by Bekki our resident NGI sensitive.

We carried out a seance, using the Ouija board - Carol declined this and just took notes.

The name Olga came through, who it appeared died at the age of 80. It seemed this person was a narrator of some sort at the theatre, and another spirit came through with the name Jimmy. When asked if he was a friend or keeping Olga company, the answer was no he was not.

At around 12.34 a.m. what appeared to be stones being thrown at the near by safety curtain was heard by ALL of the group. Mark, from another group, also heard this and was at the other side of the curtain in the Auditorium at this point, shouted through if that was us making that noise. When it was realised that this wasn't the case, that no-one was responsible for the stone throwing, it was deemed unexplainable and worthy of note.

Apart from that particular incident, nothing else was felt.

Group 3 Report : Mark Phil Tracy Sharon Margaret

Mark 'called out' but achieved no response – not even anything that could have been filed in the “maybe” section.

A flash of light was seen at the bottom of the metal safety curtain with no obvious source except possibly the flash of somebody’s camera in the Auditorium. Mark, Tracy and Sharon took turns calling out to see if the light would reappear which it did.

Mark went out into the auditorium to see if they had been using flash photography. It turned out that they had, so it was suggested that they wait 60 seconds then take another photo to see if the flash would show under the safety curtain. The light did return, so this was deemed to be the explanation.

The rest of the vigil passed without incident.