The Scottish play
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- This article is about the euphemism for Macbeth. For Lee Blessing's play "The Scottish Play", see The Scottish Play (Lee Blessing play).
The Scottish play and The Bard's play are euphemisms often used for William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Saying 'Macbeth' inside a theatre is often considered taboo, as it is thought to bring on the curse associated with the play. The lead actors themselves are referred to as "Mr. and Mrs. M." or a variety of different names. The euphemism is so named because Macbeth is set in Scotland. Another variation of the superstition forbids direct quotation of the play while within a theatre.
[edit] Related rituals
There are a variety of traditional rituals used to ward off evil when the play is mentioned, such as turning three times, spitting over one's left shoulder, swearing, or reciting a line from another of Shakespeare's plays, often "Angels and ministers of grace defend us," (Hamlet 1.iv), or "Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you" (The Merchant of Venice, 3.iv). When the name of the play is spoken in a theatre, tradition requires that the person must leave, perform one of a number of rituals, and be invited back in. This was parodied in the TV series, Blackadder.
[edit] Origins
Productions of the play are said to have been plagued with accidents, many ending in death; the play does include more fight scenes and other such opportunities for accidents than does the average play. According to legend, this dates back to the original performance of the play, in which prop daggers were mistakenly swapped for real ones, resulting in a death.
Those who believe in the curse of Macbeth claim its origin to be in the three Witches, who in the play are said to be casting real spells. It has also been suggested that the inclusion of the character Hecate, frequently cut from productions of the play due to questions about her part's authorship, will intensify the effects of the curse.
The popularity of the superstition might also be related to its mild hazing aspect. Veteran actors might relate some tale of woe that they witnessed personally due to someone invoking the curse, lending credibility and immediacy to the tale.
One commonly believed origin is that Macbeth, being a popular play, was commonly put on by theaters in danger of going out of business, or that the high production costs of Macbeth put the theater in financial trouble. An association was made between the production of Macbeth and theaters going out of business. Not to mention, "That Scottish Play" was - and is - a real crowd pleaser, so acting companies short on cash would put up the show, in hopes of raking in more money to keep themselves from going out of business.
