Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘I’ve never felt so terrified in my entire life’
Actress’s ordeal in unlit car park at Whitefriars
A West End stage star has launched a blistering attack on Canterbury’s Whitefriars shopping centre and accused staff of “ineptitude”.
Rebecca Caine – currently starring in The Sound of Music at the Marlowe Theatre – was left searching for her car in total darkness after returning to the multi-storey from an evening show.
Managers have issued a swift apology and are investigating why the second deck was unlit after closing time this week.
Canadian-born actress Miss Caine, who stars as Mother Abbess in the hit musical, said: “I’ve never felt so terrified in my entire life.
“It was literally pitch black – I couldn’t see a thing.
“I was actually really shaken up by it. They must have seen my car was still there. Why were there no lights? Not even on a motion sensor.
“It’s completely unacceptable for a lone woman – for anyone in fact – to have to find their way in pitch darkness.”
Miss Caine says she parked in the Whitefriars car park on Monday at about 1pm.
She had a matinee and evening performance and returned to her car at 11.30pm – half-an-hour after the car park closes.
As she emerged on the second floor she found herself in complete darkness and was forced to fumble for her phone to provide a small amount of light to locate her hatchback.
As she eventually made her way out of the car park, she noticed lights on the lower decks were still in operation.
She has complained to the Whitefriars company, but also took to her Twitter account, describing her ordeal to her 8,000 followers.
“Shaking with fear and I don’t scare easily,” she wrote.
“Nothing like someone’s ineptitude to remind a woman that we are supremely vulnerable and I’m furious to have been so frightened.”
A spokesman for the company has apologised and said enquiries were ongoing.
“We appreciate this must have been a scary experience,” he said. “It looks like the lights were off on the second floor and we have no idea why.
“Certainly the security lights should be on at the minimum.”
The spokesman said he would provide further explanation when he had the information.
According to an online biography Miss Caine made her West End stage debut aged 19 in classic stage musical Oklahoma!
She has appeared on stage across the world, including starring opposite Michael Crawford in The Phantom of the Opera.