The Scottish Play

I am doing a project on the reasons behind the Scottish play and I just need a few tips for it. Does anyone know how this myth started? Does anyone have any stories? Thanks all, I appreciate it!

Yes, I have also wondered why it has not usually been referred to by its title - why so?

So, what does an actor put on his CV if the play is part of past roles?

Updated On: 1/7/05 at 09:10 PM

The story goes that the thatched roof of Shakespeare's Globe Theater caught fire and caused the whole theater to burn during a performance of MACBETH. That's how the myth started.

Secondly, the play is set in Scotland and many productions of it heavily feature fog machines to create an atmosphere. Of course, these machines can blind an actor to different stage levels and trap doors, so that's how injuries occur. These injuries promost the myth.

There is much dueling and fight sequences in the play. If an actor is only a fraction of an inch off his mark he can be seriously injured. This also promotes the myth.

There are quite a few special effects required for a production of MACBETH (unless we're discussing the Kelsey Grammer version of it, which was produced on a budget of $6.00): witches disappearing into the air, cauldrons rising, apparitions, daggers floating--to say nothing of a Queen sleepwalking. If any of these things misfire, there are even more injuries to contend with. Therefore, the myth continues.

Add to all this that most of the recent productions in New York were financial bombs, and you get the idea why the play is considered bad luck.

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That happened during a production of one of the Henrys I believe

I heard the Scottish play was cursed just because a lot of weird stuff has happened to actors and crew involved in it. Supposedly right before it's very first production the boy playing Lady Macbeth died backstage. I'll try and remember some other ones.

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I highly recommend you pick up the Oxford edition of MACBETH; the introductory essay goes through the performance history of the play and summarizes why the very naming of MACBETH in a theatre is considered bad luck.

It's completely true that the use of special effects in MACBETH has contributed to various accidents that have occurred over the centuries. However, the Globe Theatre didn't burn down due to a performance of MACBETH -- the play was written and performed for the "private" (small blackbox) theatre, not the public (open-air) theatre, of which the Globe was one. (Besides historical records supporting the fact that MACBETH was performed at the Black Friars Theatre, the style and demands of the play are very much catered to the private playspace -- although it was also commissioned by King James to be performed at his court).

Besides the performance history of MACBETH contributing to its myth, the play is, of course, supernatural because of its witches. The thing with MACBETH (and also with Marlowe's DOCTOR FAUSTUS) that makes the play creepy, particularly for its original 17th-century English audiences, is that black magic is conjured onstage. Of course we know that it's all make-believe, but a 17th-century audience that believed in witches and demons, it was pretty nerve-wracking stuff -- that maybe the performers onstage were really witches, or were really calling up the Devil. Where does one draw the line between "pretending" to incite supernatural powers, and actually doing it? That is yet another reason why a cloud of eeriness has always surrounded MACBETH in performance.

Sir Ian McKellen states on his website that contrary to superstition, MACBETH was quite a fortunate play for him: his performance received huge critical acclaim. (His Macbeth remains the most definitive and heralded portrayal of the last 50 years, and the stuff of legend. This RSC production is still by far the best production of the play I've ever seen, and also features Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth. You can catch it on video.)

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Updated On: 1/8/05 at 12:08 AM

You can almost write a play about the history of M*****h, the play .

Thanks to all - very interesting stuff.

Thanks all! Anything else?

Whoa...this is kinda creepy..a couple weeks ago the drama geeks and I were discussing this during english class (for lack of anything better to do) and on a dare i went into the theatre and SCREAMED the "m-word" at the top of my lungs.....and then promptly fell off the stage, down the stairs and wound up pulling down the curtain....I learned my lesson.

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