house

Project Outline

'No ghost was ever seen by two pairs of eyes' - Thomas Carlyle In the darkness of old fishing villages, the bleak flats of the marshes, the shadows of medieval churches and the alleys of modern shopping centres, drowned sailors and ferrymen, jilted girls and lost soldiers from both wars walk amongst us, hiding in the nooks and crannies, caught between the dark and the light. Come with us on a promenade performance where anything could happen: performed with live theatre, music, song, projections and dance- prepare to be amused, informed, challenged, moved and unsettled… Can we see them? Hear them? Maybe catch a glimpse of them? And, perhaps more importantly, why do we want to? Ghosts are as old as human culture itself - most people are drawn to ghost stories – if you ask people for their ghost story, nearly every one has something that they cannot explain. There is a tingle in the spine that these stories bring – but why are ghosts important to us and why do we preserve and re-tell ghost stories? Why do we see them – or think we do? Why do around 40% of the population (still) believe in them? Informed by the local ghost stories of potential partners, and working with academic partners at Goldsmiths College, we will explore the psychology of ghosts- from lost treasure and terrifying apparitions, through to the Lantern Man out on the marshes - and ask just what is it about ghost stories that we love to