The Legend Of "The Curse" of Macbeth (by Team 7)

What is The Curse of Macbeth?

The "Curse of Macbeth" is the misfortune that happens during the production of the play. The theory suggests that Shakespeare included actual black magic spells in the incantations of the weird sisters. Those who mention the play's name within the confines of a theatre risk having these evils brought down on them. The tragedy of Macbeth is considered so unlucky that it is hardly ever called by its 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 superstition is not so much about doing the play as about naming it.

A Series of “Unfortunate” Events

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. In this performance prop daggers were mistakenly swapped for real ones, resulting in a death.

Ø In the 1672 staging of Macbeth in Amsterdam, the actor playing the lead deliberately knifed the guy playing Duncan, gorily killing him on stage while the audience looked on.

Ø Or the 1721 English performance where a nobleman obliviously walked across the stage mid-performance to chat with a friend on the other side of the theatre. The understandably annoyed actors chased him away with their swords but learned the hard way that you didn’t play uppity with the aristocracy in eighteenth-century England: The nobleman’s cronies quickly returned and torched the theatre.

Ø In the infamous 1849 Shakespeare-related riot at NYC’s Astor Place Opera House, which ended up with hundreds dead and injured, had all started with a performance of Macbeth.

If you’re still not convinced, the track record of famous twentieth-century Macbeth performances is even more startling.

Ø The boy actor playing Lady Macbeth died back stage on opening night. In 1934, four actors played Macbeth in a single week.

Ø In 1937, Macbeth had to be postponed for three days after a change in directors and because of the death of Lilian Boylis

Ø Another 1937(British) production was particularly ill-starred. A stage weight fell from the theatre ceiling, missing the star (famous Shakespearean actor Doyen Laurence Olivier) by less than an inch. Later, a chunk of Olivier’s dagger detached and catapulted into the crowd, striking a spectator who dropped dead of a coronary just a few hours later. Not long later, the theatre owner died suddenly of a heart attack during a dress rehearsal. Not to mention that, while driving to the theatre, the director and the actress playing Lady Macduff were nearly killed in a car accident. All this, and in just one production.

Ø A 1942 production of the play starring John Gielgud saw three actors die in unrelated incidents and the director commit suicide.

Ø In a 1947 production, an actor named Harold Norman was stabbed (this time accidentally) on stage and died quickly and messily of his wounds in front of the crowd. Legend has it that his ghost still haunts the London Theater where all this happened.

Ø And a 1953 outdoor performance in Bermuda went awry when a sudden gust of wind sent the stage flying. One of its pieces hit some wiring, which set off a fire, which ignited Charlton Heston, the lead actor, who had—somehow—been partially soaked in kerosene while performing.

Ø 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.

Theories Behind The Curse

One hypothesis for the origin of this superstition is that Macbeth, being a popular play, was commonly put on by theatres in danger of going out of business, or that the high production costs of Macbeth put the theatre in financial trouble. An association was made between the production of Macbeth and theatres going out of business.

According to the superstition, Shakespeare got a few of the lines from an actual coven of witches and when they saw the play they were greatly offended and cursed the play. Another tradition tells that the original prop master could not find a suitable pot for a cauldron and stole one from a coven, who then cursed the play in revenge for the theft. It is believed that breaking the taboo calls the ghosts of the three witches to the show and it is they who cause all the mishaps.

Productions of Macbeth 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 most plays, and the atmosphere in the backstage area of old-fashioned theaters was a prime setting for disasters, especially when dealing with potentially dangerous equipment.

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." The most interesting theory is that the play contains the devil in the form of the porter.

Can It Be Cured?

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.

It is difficult for us to believe in super-natural events, but the circumstantial evidence surrounding the curse of macbeth is pretty potent. Its disturbing production history has prompted many actors and other theatre people to take the Macbeth curse seriously so maybe we should reasses our beliefs.