Why is 'Macbeth' considered unlucky to thespians?

Question

Are there any myths or stories attached to the superstition? Why 'Macbeth' and not some other play?

Answer 1

The "Curse of Macbeth" is the misfortune that happens during the production of the play.
The theory goes that Shakespeare included actual black magic spells in the incantations of the weird sisters. Those who appear in the play or those who mention the play's name within the confines of a theatre risk having these evils brought down on their heads.
The tragedy of Macbeth is considered so unlucky that it is hardly ever called by name inside the profession. People refer to the play as "that play”, “the unmentionable" or "the Scottish play." It is supposed to be bad luck to quote from the play or to use any sets, costumes, or props from a production.
The play partly acquired its evil reputation because of the weird sisters and partly because tradition traces a long line of disasters back to its premier on August 7, 1606.
The boy actor playing Lady Macbeth died back stage on opening night. In 1934, four actors played Macbeth in a single week. In 1937, Macbeth had to be postponed for three days after a change in directors and because of the death of Lilian Boylis.
In 1954, the portrait of Lilian Boylis crashed down on the bar on opening night.
The answer to the curse is lost in folklore, there are three main guesses to why the curse occurs.
The first guess is that there is something mystical about the weird sisters incantations.
The second guess is that the play has a history of bad luck.
The third guess is that the play's crowd-pleasing popularity made it the stand-by when a show was flopping.
There is a lot of fighting and physical action in Macbeth. It is inevitable that in the long run of the play someone is going to get hurt. After a few of these stories get around, you get the "Curse of Macbeth."
In one production of Macbeth, nothing went wrong until the fight scene between Macbeth and Macduff. Both actors had round "Celtic-style" shields strapped to their forearms of their left arms. The fight was very physical. The actor playing Macbeth made a violent move with his left arm and the shield left his arm and flew like a Frisbee for twenty feet across the stage.
The actor playing Macduff ducked instinctively and the shield hit the ground about sixteen inches from the front of the stage. Sitting in the front row, directly opposite the shield sat two nuns.
The superstition is not so much about doing the play as about naming it. You are not supposed to mention the title in a theatre.
The most interesting theory is that the play contains the devil in the form of the porter.
The most common remedy to get rid of the curse is that the offender must step outside, turn around three times, spit, and say the foulest word he/she can think of, and wait for permission to re-enter the theatre.

Answer 2

I've heard of a few different reasons, all along the lines of what others have said. People were said to have actually died during violent scenes in the play, and others became ill during production. There's a brief article that explains the origins of the curse, as well as some of the bizarre and unfortunate events that occurred during stagings of the play here: http://pretallez.com/onstage/theatre/broadway/macbeth/macbeth_curse.html .
(ETA: It seems that the commenter above me found a much better essay, though.)
As someone else said, the play was very popular, but in addition to making other shows close, some theatres already in risk of going out of business would put on a production in hopes of earning a profit that would allow them to stay open. That didn't always work, however, so the play became associated with theatres closing.

Answer 3

"The Scottish Play" is considered unlucky for three reasons:

It has a very small cast, so parts could be doubled up, and actors would be out of a job;
There are many violent scenes and murder scenes - the accident rate was much higher because of this than other plays;
It's long been believed that the spells used by the Wyrd Sisters were real incantations.

Don't mention the M word again... :)

Answer 4

From a few theatre classes I've taken, there have been different reasons. One is that the backstage area was so dark that people would get hurt (most modern reason). Another popular reason is that they used to think the 3 witch/weird sisters spells in the play were real and were conjuring actual evil spirits.
I'm not saying its true, I'm not saying it false, but these were the reasons.

Answer 5

Because it did so well - all the other plays had to shut down.

So if you were working on a play and Macbeth came to town you were going to be out of a job.

Answer 6

Because wannabe actors -- most of whom probably aren't actually talented enough to be IN the play -- think it's cool to perpetuate useless superstitions that do nothing more than waste time.

Answer 7

Because even though he had a special blessing that no child of woman born could kill him he was over confident and misinterpreted his blessing. which makes him very unlucky indeed.

Answer 8

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=721201

a great essay - well researched - on the subject