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The Scottish Play andthe Bard's play areeuphemisms for theWilliam Shakespeare playMacbeth. The first is a reference to the play'sScottish setting, and the second is a reference to Shakespeare's popularnickname. According to atheatrical superstition, called theScottishcurse, speaking the nameMacbeth inside a theatre, other than as called for in the script while rehearsing or performing, will cause disaster. On top of the aforementioned alternative titles, some people also refer to the classical tragedy asMackers for this reason. Variations of the superstition may also forbid quoting lines from the play within a theatre except as part of an actual rehearsal or performance of the play.
Because of this superstition, thetitle character is often referred to as theScottish King orScottish Lord.Lady Macbeth is often referred to as theScottish Lady orLady M. However, one of the most popular traditions among Shakespeare-specific actors allows "Macbeth" as a reference to the character. Nonetheless, many call the pair "Macb" and "Lady Macb".[1]
The traditional origin is said to be a curse set upon the play by a coven ofwitches, angry at Shakespeare for using a real spell.[2] One hypothesis for the origin of this superstition is thatMacbeth, being a popular play, was commonly put on by theatres in financial trouble, or that the high production costs ofMacbeth put theatres in financial trouble. Hence, an association was made between productions ofMacbeth and theatres going out of business.[3]
When the name of the play is spoken in a theatre, tradition requires the person who spoke it to leave, perform traditional cleansingrituals, and be invited back in. The rituals are supposed to ward off the evil that uttering the play's name is feared to bring on.
The rituals include turning three times, spitting over one's left shoulder, swearing, or reciting a line from another of Shakespeare's plays.[4] Popular lines for this purpose include, "Angels and ministers of grace defend us" (Hamlet 1.IV), "If we shadows have offended" (A Midsummer Night's Dream 5.II), and "Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you" (The Merchant of Venice, 3.IV).[4] A more elaborate cleansing ritual involves leaving the theatre, spinning around and brushing oneself off, and saying "Macbeth" three times before entering again. Some production groups insist that the offender may not re-enter the theatre until invited to do so, therefore making it easy to punish frequent offenders by leaving them outside.
A portrayal of the ritual occurs in the 1983 filmThe Dresser, in which the lead character Sir is the offender, and his dresser Norman officiates over the propitiation.
The cleansing rituals have been parodied numerous times in popular culture, including inBlackadder,Slings and Arrows,The Simpsons,The West Wing, andMake It Pop.[5] For example, in theBlackadder episode "Sense and Senility", a parody ritual performed by two actors involves slapping each other's handspat-a-cake fashion, followed by tweaking the other person's nose. InSlings and Arrows, a guest director mocks the superstition by saying "Macbeth" onstage. While spinning around, she falls off on her third spin, resulting in an injury that takes her out of commission for the rest of the season. OnThe Simpsons, the core five are invited into a performance byIan McKellen (in Scottish attire, clearly in the title role). The family keeps saying the title, which only makes more bad luck strike the actor, including lightning striking him and the "MAC" falling from the signage (leaving the "BETH").[6]
Patrick Stewart, on the radio programAsk Me Another, asserted that "if youhave played the role of the Scottish thane, then you are allowed to say the title, any time anywhere."[7]
English actor Harold Norman, playing Macbeth, was mortally wounded in a sword fight during a performance ofMacbeth at Oldham's Colosseum Theatre on 30 January 1947. He died in hospital three weeks later.[8]
On 2 December 1964, a fire burned down theD. Maria II National Theatre in Lisbon, Portugal. At the time, the play being shown wasMacbeth.[9]
In 1980, a production ofMacbeth atThe Old Vic starringPeter O'Toole, often referred to asMacdeath, was performed. It was reviewed so badly that theProspect Theatre Company disbanded shortly after the play.[10]
Mishaps on the set of his filmOpera led directorDario Argento to believe that the film had been affected by the Macbeth curse; the opera being performed within the film isGiuseppe Verdi'sMacbeth.[11][failed verification]
In 1988, Bulgarian singer, coach, and translatorBantcho Bantchevsky committed suicide while attending a nationally broadcast matinee of Verdi'sMacbeth. He propelled himself backward from a balcony railing at New York'sMetropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Square.[12]
Ari Aster, writer and director ofHereditary, said that during filming, "Alex Wolff told me not to say the name of William Shakespeare's Scottish play out loud because of some superstitious theater legend. I smugly announced the name, and then one of our lights burst during the shooting of the following scene."[13]
At the94th Academy Awards,Chris Rock congratulatedDenzel Washington on his performance inThe Tragedy of Macbeth, saying the name of the Scottish play aloud in theDolby Theatre. Moments later,Rock was slapped byWill Smith after making a joke about Smith's wife,Jada Pinkett Smith. Viewers, including playwrightLynn Nottage, quickly took to social media to joke that Rock had suffered the curse of the Scottish play.[14]
Further instances include theAstor Place Riot in 1849, injuries sustained by actors at a 1937 performance at The Old Vic that starredLaurence Olivier,Diana Wynyard's accidental fall in 1948, and burns suffered byCharlton Heston in 1954.[15]