I've heard that you should never yell Macbeth in a theatre. Is that true?

Question

Why?

Answer 1

Don't even whisper it.

Legend is that the play is cursed! And you just know there are many many superstitious people in this crazy business we call show.

Just call it "that scottish play" and all will be fine.

They say the "boil, toil and trouble" lines in the play are, in fact, lifted from some witches incantation ~ ergo: cursed play!

Some go to extremes to keep from cursing your own production,
one variation is....
1. Leave the theater
2. Spin three times
3. Knock and ask to be let back in.

Answer 2

An actor never mentions "The Scottish Play" in a theatre, especially before or during a performance. I'm not a superstitious person except when it comes to theatre, so I abide by this most faithfully!

Also:
never whistle backstage (this stems from stage hands using whistle cues for moving scenery and stuff, so if you whistled the wrong thing, someone might decide it's time to fly the curtain in and you get hit on the head.)
never tell an actor "good luck" (say break a leg, which actually refers to the side curtains, "legs," and a botched entrance rather than actual limbs)
don't walk through a closed curtain (I don't know why, a lot of these things make no sense at all)

there are lots of others, but those are some main ones. As for Macbeth, there's a very simple reason for that, though outdated.

Theatre companies used to travel, and put on shows in various towns, trying to earn a living. If they were doing terribly, most companies would fall back on Macbeth as a real crowd pleaser. So performing Macbeth became a sort of death-knell for theatre people, signifying the painful decline into bankruptcy.

There are lots of more interesting reasons, though not true, such as the witch's song casting evil curses, etc.

Answer 3

It is true backstage of a theatre unless you are performing the play it is bad luck to say MacBeth. I think in the rest of the theatre it is ok because the supersitation is only really followed by actors and people that work in theatre. The way this legend came about was that Macbeth is the shortest Shakespeare play and most of the actors in the 1700's and 1800's knew it. Therefore it was a perfect show to put together on the fly/ As you can imagine that it was performed many times and when a play is performed many times then number of problems are multiplied, i.e. accidents. Everyone who has ever been in this play has a story to tell. When I played MacBeth, our final battle between MacBeth and MacDuff almost ended with MacDuff losing an eye when his sword broke from the hilt. We finished the fight but could you imagine the end of that production. Actors like to talk about the shows they have been in and like I said everyone has a MacBeth story. It therefore became feared to say backstage because you would be tempting fate if you invoke the name of the play which has so many accident stories tied to it.

Answer 4

Yes. For this reason, Macbeth is never called Macbeth in a theatre. It's called "The Scottish Play."

Answer 5

It's a bunch of B.S., perpetuated by a load of theatre amateurs who think it's cool and distinctive to subscribe to ridiculous superstitions...makes 'em feel like they're "part of the club."

"Macbeth" just HAPPENS to be a play that takes place largely in the dark, and which requires a fair amount of vigorous physical activity. Of course accidents have occurred. But, for that matter, I suppose that a bunch of chorus dancers from "My Fair Lady" have twisted their ankles over the years...how is it we never hear about THAT?!

When I directed the play a few years ago, I made it very clear at our first read-through that the first actor who wasted a second of our precious rehearsal time with references to such nonsense would find him or herself without a job.

Strangely enough, the rest of the production went without incident. So much for THAT curse.

Answer 6

It's a superstition. It has no basis in fact, but even mentioning the name of the play "MacBeth" can send your fellow actors into caniptions. It's customary to refer to "The Scottish Play," instead.

Answer 7

We were seeing Obsessed, or perhaps as Beyonce' and Ali were having that wrestle scene.. some HUGEEEEE African American lady screamed on the right of her lungs "Uh huh. Get that white *****. She's a stupid dumbass." It became heavily hilarious..

Answer 8

supposedly if you do yell Macbeth the play that is being performed will do really really bad

Answer 9

Yes. If there are any superstitious actors in the building you will be dragged out by your hair, beaten bloody, and blamed for everything that goes wrong for the next ten years.

Answer 10

No, its all some stupid superstion. I've acted since i was three and before many plays me and my friends say Macneth. Nothing has ever happened. So its only true if you want to belive it.