THE SCOTTISH PLAY “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.” Shakespeare’s Macbeth has been cursed since its inception in 1606. Some believe this is due to Shakespeare using the spells of real witches in his text. Due to this curse, the most famous of theatre superstitions is uttering the word “Macbeth” or quoting lines from the play in a theatre where it is not being produced. Anyone guilty of doing such a thing is ordered outside to spin around three times, say a dirty word, and then knock to be let back into the theatre. Here’s a great article listing many instances of the curse reeking havoc on productions over the last 135 years.
GHOSTS Many theatres have resident ghosts. One ghost often plagues theatres and his name is Thespis. Thespis of ancient Athens was the first person to speak lines solo on stage rather than part of a chorus. Hence the term “thespian” being used to refer to actors today! Any unexplainable mischief that befalls a production is often blamed on Thespis, especially if it happens on November 23 (the date he supposedly uttered the first lines). Our own Stanley Theatre has a ghost. We wrote a blog post about it last Halloween. Click here for a refresher!
GHOST LIGHT Traditionally, a ghost light is a light left burning in an empty theatre at night after everyone has gone home. The tradition goes so far back that there is evidence that in Shakespeare’s time this light will have been a simple candle. Today a bare bulb is used to scare away ghosts from past performances. A contradicting belief is that the ghosts require the light to put on their own plays. Regardless of what is believed, everyone agrees that having a ghost light keeps the ghosts happy so that they don’t play pranks on the cast and crew!
GREEN ROOM There is not a lot of evidence as to why a green room is called a green room, but Richard Southern, in his studies of Medieval theatre in the round, states that in this period the acting area was called The Green. This central space was often grass-covered and used by the actors, while the surrounding space and circular banks were occupied by the audience. Based on this The Green has been a traditional actor’s term for the stage. The green room could thus be considered the transition room on the way to The Green/stage. Technical staff at some West End theatres (such as the London Coliseum) still refer to the stage as The Green.
BREAK A LEG! Telling an actor to “Break a leg!” on opening night may seem counter intuitive, but not saying it could be worse luck than saying a simple, “Good luck!” The favoured explanation of this superstition dates back to the early days of Vaudeville. Variety acts at the time were only paid if they were able to step on the stage and complete their act. The side curtains, called legs, needed to be passed in order to walk on stage hence “break a leg” was a phrase passed between performers as a well-wish for a successful performance resulting in a tidy sum.
WHISTLING It is considered bad luck for an actor to whistle on or off stage. Theatrical rigging has its origins in sailing rigging and stage crews were sailors hired from ships in port. Riggers used coded whistles to communicate scene changes and actors who whistled could confuse them into changing the set or scenery before the proper cue. Injuries would result and the superstition was born! Today operating crews use radios which has solved this problem, but whistling on stage is still considered bad luck and thus a big no-no.
Have any theatrical superstitions you’re curious about? Leave a comment and we’ll do our best to research it and add it to the post!
