Henry Dircks was an English engineer and practical inventor who from 1858 strove to find theatres which would implement his vision of a sensational new genre of drama featuring apparitions which interacted with actors on stage. He constructed a peepshow-like model which demonstrated how reflections on a glass screen could produce convincing illusions. He also outlined a series of plays featuring ghost effects, which his apparatus could enable, and worked out how complex illusions, like image transformations, could be achieved through the technique. But in terms of applying the effect in theatres, Dircks seemed unable to think beyond remodelling theatres to resemble his peepshow model. He produced a design for theatres which required costly, impractical rebuilding of an auditorium to host the illusion. The theatres, which he approached, were not interested. In another bid to attract interest, he advertised his models for sale and in late 1862 the models’ manufacturer invited John Henry Pepper to view one.