With the dawn of the gas-lit era in the 19th century came the reassuring glow of the pilot light, which ensured we were never plunged into total darkness again. And so, whether it be for practical reasons or out of superstition, a ghost light is always left burning on stage after everyone has left the theatre. It makes perfect sense that a light should remain on to prevent people from falling into the orchestra pit, however the notion of appeasing supernatural forces that haunt a theatre is far more romantic. It is for this reason that ghost lights have become the stuff of lore, with roles many and varied.

Do they ward off the phantoms that lurk in dark corners of opera houses? Are they portents of epic tales yet to be played out? Or do they provide the light by which theatre ghosts play out their own dramas, safe from prying eyes? Perhaps, in these desolate times of the global pandemic, those ghosts now yearn for an audience. This is the premise of the digital theatre festival Ghost Lights, which brings together famous characters from works by Henrick Ibsen, Luigi Pirandello and William Shakespeare. We find them performing their...