![\"Kids](\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/theme\/images\/th-online\/1x1_spacer.png\" "\\"Kids")
<\/picture><\/div>\nWhen you hear the line \u201che who shouldn\u2019t be named\u201d… what comes to mind? For most of us, this line refers to Voldemort, the heinous villain of J.K. Rowling\u2019s \u201cHarry Potter\u201d series. Although Voldemort might have wreaked havoc on Hogwarts and the wizarding world, there is another name that has been (almost) terrorising storytellers\u2014or let\u2019s just say theatre-goers and performers\u2014equally for more than four centuries, and that name is\u2026 (brace yourself) Macbeth.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWell, I\u2019m glad you asked.<\/p>\n
The legend behind the cursed play<\/h4>\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/children\/nn7aaa\/article68250535.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/william-shakespeare-67764_1920.jpg\" "\\"A")
<\/div>\n\nA poster of Macbeth\u2019s <\/i>1884 production
\n| Photo Credit:
\nWIKIMEDIA Commons\n<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\nThe superstition surrounding the play dictates that neither the play\u2019s title nor any quote from the text must be spoken in a theatre outside of rehearsals or the performance itself. Refusal to adhere to this taboo is thought to invite trouble, bad luck, or even disaster to the rebel or the team putting together the bard\u2019s play.<\/p>\n
\nThe legend has been feared for so long that it has become embedded in the English public\u2019s psyche. One piece of evidence of this is the fact that there is no sign for the word \u2018Macbeth\u2019 in British Sign Language.<\/p>\n
To avoid any dicey situations, people in theatrical circles have come up with many euphemisms to refer to the play, such as \u201cThe Bard\u2019s Play\u201d or \u201cThe Scottish Play.\u201d<\/p>\n
The king, the context & the curse<\/h4>\n
Witch trials and the persecution of suspected witches were rampant across Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. When King James I ascended to the throne of England in 1603, his disdain for witchcraft was clear. He even labelled it \u201chigh treason against God,\u201d justifying all forms of torture and brutality against those accused. His obsession with the dark arts was said to be inspired by the execution of his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots. This fixation intensified after he encountered a brutal storm at sea while he was the king of Scotland. Convinced witches were responsible, James launched a witch-hunt upon his return home and quickly penned Daemonologie<\/i>, a book outlining his plans to eradicate witchcraft.<\/p>\n
When English playwright William Shakespeare staged Macbeth<\/i> around 1606, featuring three \u201cweird sisters\u201d chanting convincing spells, it struck fear into the public. Rumours swirled that a coven of witches had cursed the play. Historians later debunked the tale that the actor set to play Lady Macbeth (in the first production of the Shakespearean tragedy) died suddenly before opening night, revealing it as a myth created by the 19th and 20th-century cartoonist and critic Max Beerbohm. Yet, by then, the legend had already cemented its place in theatrical lore.<\/p>\nA tainted legacy<\/h4>\n\n![\"\u201cThe](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/children\/tj7n9j\/article68292705.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_030.jpg\" "\\"\u201cThe")
<\/div>\n\n\u201cThe sleepwalking Lady Macbeth\u201d by Johann Heinrich F\u00fcssli\u00a0
\n| Photo Credit:
\nThe Yorck Project (2002)\/wikimedia commons\n<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nThe play hasn\u2019t had much luck since. Many of its productions have been tainted by accidents, including actors falling off set, mysterious deaths, and even riots, notably in 1721 and 1772. A particularly macabre incident occurred in a 17th-century Amsterdam production when the actor playing King Duncan was allegedly killed in front of a live audience, as a real dagger was used instead of a stage prop during the stabbing scene.<\/p>\n
But don\u2019t these kinds of accidents happen with other plays too? Macbeth<\/i>, with its stock of complicated scenes, including six murder scenes and tumultuous storm sequences, is a risky gambit, curse or no curse. Its production costs are so high that British historian Martin Harrison noted in his 1998 book, The Language of Theatre<\/i>, that it could bankrupt a theatre.<\/p>\nBut it\u2019s wiser to not take any chances <\/h4>\n
So in case you utter the name of \u2018The Scottish Play\u2019 in the theatre, here\u2019s a simple antidote. Exit the theatre, spin around three times, spit, curse and then knock on the theatre door and ask to be let back in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\nA poster of Macbeth\u2019s <\/i>1884 production
\n| Photo Credit:
\nWIKIMEDIA Commons\n<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n \nThe superstition surrounding the play dictates that neither the play\u2019s title nor any quote from the text must be spoken in a theatre outside of rehearsals or the performance itself. Refusal to adhere to this taboo is thought to invite trouble, bad luck, or even disaster to the rebel or the team putting together the bard\u2019s play.<\/p>\n \nThe legend has been feared for so long that it has become embedded in the English public\u2019s psyche. One piece of evidence of this is the fact that there is no sign for the word \u2018Macbeth\u2019 in British Sign Language.<\/p>\n To avoid any dicey situations, people in theatrical circles have come up with many euphemisms to refer to the play, such as \u201cThe Bard\u2019s Play\u201d or \u201cThe Scottish Play.\u201d<\/p>\n Witch trials and the persecution of suspected witches were rampant across Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. When King James I ascended to the throne of England in 1603, his disdain for witchcraft was clear. He even labelled it \u201chigh treason against God,\u201d justifying all forms of torture and brutality against those accused. His obsession with the dark arts was said to be inspired by the execution of his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots. This fixation intensified after he encountered a brutal storm at sea while he was the king of Scotland. Convinced witches were responsible, James launched a witch-hunt upon his return home and quickly penned Daemonologie<\/i>, a book outlining his plans to eradicate witchcraft.<\/p>\n When English playwright William Shakespeare staged Macbeth<\/i> around 1606, featuring three \u201cweird sisters\u201d chanting convincing spells, it struck fear into the public. Rumours swirled that a coven of witches had cursed the play. Historians later debunked the tale that the actor set to play Lady Macbeth (in the first production of the Shakespearean tragedy) died suddenly before opening night, revealing it as a myth created by the 19th and 20th-century cartoonist and critic Max Beerbohm. Yet, by then, the legend had already cemented its place in theatrical lore.<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe sleepwalking Lady Macbeth\u201d by Johann Heinrich F\u00fcssli\u00a0 <\/div>\n The play hasn\u2019t had much luck since. Many of its productions have been tainted by accidents, including actors falling off set, mysterious deaths, and even riots, notably in 1721 and 1772. A particularly macabre incident occurred in a 17th-century Amsterdam production when the actor playing King Duncan was allegedly killed in front of a live audience, as a real dagger was used instead of a stage prop during the stabbing scene.<\/p>\n But don\u2019t these kinds of accidents happen with other plays too? Macbeth<\/i>, with its stock of complicated scenes, including six murder scenes and tumultuous storm sequences, is a risky gambit, curse or no curse. Its production costs are so high that British historian Martin Harrison noted in his 1998 book, The Language of Theatre<\/i>, that it could bankrupt a theatre.<\/p>\n So in case you utter the name of \u2018The Scottish Play\u2019 in the theatre, here\u2019s a simple antidote. Exit the theatre, spin around three times, spit, curse and then knock on the theatre door and ask to be let back in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe king, the context & the curse<\/h4>\n
A tainted legacy<\/h4>\n
<\/div>\n
\n| Photo Credit:
\nThe Yorck Project (2002)\/wikimedia commons\n<\/p>\nBut it\u2019s wiser to not take any chances <\/h4>\n