Book explores darker dramas in our theatres
AMASS tragedy, a suicide and even a gruesome mauling by a lion feature among deaths which have taken place inside our well-loved theatres and which are now revealed in a new book.
Chris Wood, from Morpeth in Northumberland, has spent almost two years researching and writing about intriguing and disturbing reallife cases set in the theatre world which show that just as much drama has happened behind the scenes as on stage itself. The result is Death in the Theatre which is out now.
It is Chris’s second non-fiction book after his first, Famous Last Words detailing deathbed confessions, proved a hit with his publishers in 2021. And the stories he has uncovered – which include several deaths in North East theatres – have provided him with plenty more ideas for writing about dark deeds.
There’s a clear theme, laughs Chris, 41, who previously has taken part in true crime podcasts, and he says his subjects might sound macabre but he finds them fascinating. Given the level of demand around for true crime stories, it’s an interest shared by a majority. He came up for the idea for his second book when he read a newspaper article about an unusual death by electrocution in a theatre and became so inspired by it that it almost delayed finishing Famous Last Words, the progress of which had already been held up by the pandemic.
The former estate agency worker likes to carry out his research at libraries and archives, that is when – as dad to a four-year-old daughter – time allows. Otherwise the internet is a treasure trove too.
The more he dug into the cases he uncovered, the more surprised he was at the number of deaths that have happened in theatres, from murders to horrible accidents. “I’ve been amazed by the stuff I’ve found,” he says.
He ended up with more than enough material for one book so had to pick out the incidents he found most interesting. There are 34 stories in total in his easy-to-dip-into book which is peppered with images including some of the victims back in the day.
Chris loves theatre – has done so ever since he was a 10-year-old, the middle of three brothers, when he recalls being taken by his parents to see An Inspector Calls at Tynemouth Priory Theatre – and he and his wife go as regularly as they can. In a way it’s perhaps little surprise that places where heightened emotions are played out on stage can generate high drama off-stage too.
Among the fascinating stories his research revealed there were truly traumatic ones too, including a tragedy in a Sunderland theatre which he is amazed so few people know about. In 1883 there were 183 children killed in Victoria Hall; crushed to death in a rush following an announcement about free toys.
Other local cases he features include a murder at Alnwick Theatre; a suicide at the old Jarrow Theatre Royal and two accidents in the Tyne Theatre & Opera House in Newcastle. One of the cases in the latter was a tragic death involving a stage-hand struck on the head by a cannonball from the thunder-run in 1887.
The North East gets its fair share of attention in the book which covers theatre nationwide, with one of the most bizarre cases featured having taken place in London when a lion used in a show mauled a man to death. Safety standards were of course a totally different kettle of fish back then.
And the adage of the ‘show must go on’ appeared to have been stuck to religiously, in the case of a ‘flyman’ at one theatre, who plummeted from a height to his death on stage where the performance carried on around him.
Ahead of the book coming out this May, it was attracting a huge amount of early interest, with reviews as well as praise from famous names in the worlds of theatre and crime fiction. Among them were actor Sir Derek Jacobi and writer Peter James, with the author calling the book “immaculately researched and beautifully macabre” and adding: “This is a real treat for anyone who is either a fan of the theatre or of untimely deaths. I loved it!”
Fellow thespian Hugh Bonneville’s review was also glowing. He called the book “richly entertaining” with its tales of tragic accidents and murder most foul and “a must-read for all lovers of the theatre, providing shocks and gasps of horror when real life proves to be more dramatic than any play on stage”.
Chris said of the reception: “I’m over the moon!”
All of the book’s deaths seem to have an air of mystery about them and incidents like the theatre show continuing around a body are, he admits, ‘absolutely bonkers’.
“It was an absolute pleasure to write it.” Already he has hopes of continuing the death-in-theatre idea in a next book, if he can unearth similar tales in the US. Alternately he might well look into stories of old asylums. “There’s a definite theme!” he laughs.