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lonely little ghosts was conceived because I yearned for the theatre. I always loved magic my whole life and was on-and-off with it throughout my life; I got seriously into it in my teenage years, only to naturally drop it to focus on my more theatrical endeavors. Little did I know that all of my actor’s training, from improv and sketch comedy to screen and stage acting, there was large, if not TOTAL, carryover to magic.

After months and months have gone by during this pandemic with no artistic outlet, I forced myself to look inwardly for artistic inspiration. Was I going to write more? Was I going to pick up an instrument? Pick up some random new hobby?

One day I was walking my dogs, and I remembered that all through high school I did magic. I basically discovered magic and theatre simultaneously, although I never drew the connections between them. I always saw them as different. I went to one of my old favorite online magic stores and purchased a magic kit called “How to Read Minds” by someone who I can now call a good friend, Peter Turner.

Then I discovered British mentalist Derren Brown. I saw him commanding a stage and performing for large theatres on YouTube, and I immediately saw myself in him. I saw everything he was doing and thought, “I can do all of that. This is classy, intelligent and absolutely magical!”

So I began exploring online communities, and little did I know of the STRONG presence of Magicians and Mentalists on Facebook. These groups were rich and full of other intelligent theatre artists; they just called themselves “magicians” and “mentalists." Before I knew it, I was video chatting and making friends with other artists all over the world! It was then I decided to build a stage show that I could only hope Langhorne Players would pick up. Here we are.

In the last year, Virtual Magic was all the hype, and when it was first being performed, I was insanely skeptical. I thought it was a ridiculous concept and that virtual theatre just wasn’t worth the time... at least, until I saw a man performing out of Brooklyn for Bristol Riverside Theatre: Vinny DePonto.

Just like Derren, I was completely blown out of the water by the sheer beauty and heart contained within his show. I was mystified and smiling the whole way through. I loved every minute. DePonto used his virtual performance to recreate the experience of a carnival -- specifically his experiences at Coney Island, a place he would visit every year with his closest friends, a tradition that was brought to a halt in 2020.

I took this stage show I was working on and created lonely little ghosts. I needed to make a show about the thing I miss most -- theatre. What is magical about the theatre? What elicits that magical feeling when you are in theatres? I spent time deconstructing everything magical about the theatre to write my show: superstitions, suspension of disbelief, community, and more.

The most magical thing I found was the liminality of an empty theatre with no one around and just the sight of a secluded ghost light. And I thought about everyone who just comes and goes to and from a theatre, the memories left behind with every show. Every set built and torn down. Every character born and left. Their vibrations, just left there forever and ever.

From that, lonely little ghosts was born

Cast

Production Team

Meet the Company

Matthew Swanson

Host

Host and creator Matthew Swanson is a second-year member of the Langhorne Players Board of Directors. He appeared in our 2019 production of Church & State and in three of our new-play readings that fall. He’s played leading and supporting roles at theatres throughout the area in shows such as Cabaret (Cliff), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Butch Honeywell), American Idiot (Favorite Son), The Rocky Horror Show (Rocky), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Spring Awakening, and more. Matthew hails from Owatonna, Minnesota, where he began his theatrical training and career. Lonely Little Ghosts is his first fully-produced original work.

Matthew Swanson

Writer/Creator

Jack Bathke

Producer

John Boccanfuso

PR & Web Design

Sarah LeClair

Ticketing

Judi Parrish

Publicity

Multimedia

lovely haunt

It’s the spirits
of those who lived;
not the dead.
The one's born
already with a grasp
over the concept
of their Death.
The birthers;
Birthing
over and over
and over again;
accepting the riddance
before the beginning;
Good Riddance.
Born to haunt
this space,
for and with
this warm glow.
Vibration and Luminescence
to infinity,
from nothing,
but collaborative creation.