Superstitions From the Theater World
Who would have thought that there were so many superstitions
1. NEVER say the word Macbeth in a theater. It would bring certain
disaster. Actors, instead, call it “The Scottish Play” and the title
character “the Scottish Lord” in order to avoid pronouncing the word. In actual fact, Constantine Stanislavski, Orson Welles
and Charlton Heston all suffered some catastrophe during or just after a
production of “The Scottish Play.” In 1849, more than 30 New Yorkers
were killed when rioting broke out during a performance of the play. Abe
Lincoln read it the night before he was assassinated. If someone else
quotes from “The Scottish Play“ inside a theater, you must utter the
words “Angels and ministers of grace defend us!” Then the offender must
leave the house, turn around widdershins (counterclockwise) three times,
swear and knock to be readmitted.
The superstition seems to have arisen, in part, from the play’s
depiction of witchcraft, still a vital (though contested) belief in
1606, when the play was first performed. Like Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus,
in which staged incantations were occasionally reported to have raised
real devils, “The Scottish Play“ was believed to flirt dangerously with
the “Powers of Evil,“ bringing catastrophe down upon productions over
the succeeding centuries.
Those seeking rational reasons for the “Scottish Curse” have pointed
to several features of the play as conducive to accidents: dim lighting
and stage combat chief among them. Authentic productions often use
broadswords, which are heavy and difficult to wield deftly, capable of
inflicting considerable blunt trauma. Moreover, as Shakespeare’s
shortest and one of his most popular plays, Macbeth has often
been a last–minute addition to a company’s repertoire when the company
is in financial straits late in the season. Therefore, it can be
dangerously under–rehearsed, and it can portend the closing of the
company (which probably would have closed regardless which play was
chosen).
2. NO WHISTLING! Whistling in a theater is also forbidden because it brings bad luck to the whistler. In the olden days, stage hands were out–of–work sailors (theaters and ships share a profusion of ropes) who communicated with complex whistles. So, if you were walking around stage whistling a tune, you could accidentally call down a sandbag onto your head!
3. Never wish and actor "Good Luck". Tell them to break a leg. Why? This bizarre phrase has a number of purported meanings…
If the havoc–wreaking spirits (Sprites) heard you ask for
something, they were reputed to try to make the opposite happen. Telling
someone to “break a leg” is an attempt to outsmart the Sprites and make
something good happen.
To break a leg was to hope the actor would have so many curtain calls that his trousers would be creased permanently.
In Shakespeare’s time, to break meant to bend. So, bend your leg, means take a lot of bows.
One popular etymology derives the phrase from the 1865
assassination of Abraham Lincoln. John Wilkes Booth, the actor turned
assassin, leapt to the stage of Ford’s Theater after the murder,
breaking his leg in the process. The logical connection from this event
to wishing someone good luck is none too clear, but such is folklore.
Evidently, in the days of early vaudeville, the producers
would book more performers than could possibly perform in the given time
of the show, since “bad” acts could be pulled before their completion.
In order to ensure that the producers didn’t start paying people who
hadn’t actually performed, there was a general policy that a performer
did NOT get paid unless they actually appeared onstage. So the phrase
“break a leg” referred to breaking the visual plane of the “legs,” or
curtains that lined the side of the stage. In other words, “Hope you
break a leg and get onstage, so that you get paid.”
It came from the understudies telling their primaries to
“break a leg” enough times that it came to be considered bad luck if
they didn’t say it.
In Ancient Greece, people didn’t applaud. Instead, they
stomped for their appreciation and if they stomped long enough, they
would break a leg. Or, some would have it that the term originated
during Elizabethan times when, instead of applause the audience would
stomp their chairs – and if they liked it enough, the leg of the chair
would break.We‘re in the “dark”
You never say a theater is “closed,”
but instead that it is “dark.” If you say a theater is closed, you can
invoke plagues, Puritans or embezzlement. A dark night (when there is no
performance) is normal and healthy.
4. Whatever you do, don’t turn off the Ghost Light.
Every
theater has a Ghost Light, a light that is left onstage which is never
turned off. It’s there to guide the first and last person into and out
of the theater. For centuries, a myth has held that the light is
protection from spirits, because if the theater ever went completely
dark, lonely and resentful ghosts would realize everyone had gone and
proceed to cause all sorts of mischief.
5. Other superstitions -- Choose your wardrobe colors carefully! Wearing the colors blue and yellow
will cause actors to forget lines. Wearing green is unlucky. No Peacock feathers allowed inthe theater! And no real flowers, mirrors
or jewelry should ever be used on stage. You should use a rabbit’s foot
to apply makeup. You should never clean your makeup box. You should
NEVER wear brand–new makeup on opening night. Never place shoes or hats
on chairs or tables inside the dressing rooms. Always exit the dressing
room left foot first. Absolutely no knitting in the wings. Never open a
show on a Friday night. And never speak the last line of a play before
opening night.