Performers in the theatre are among the most superstitious people alive, so it’s no wonder I can dedicate an entire post to theatre superstitions. Some of them you may be familiar with, but others may take you by surprise.
Never wish an actor “good luck” say “break a leg” instead. There are two reasons for this. The first is that many theatre folk believe the theatre is filled with mischief-making spirits who will use their magic to cause the opposite of what you wish to happen. The other explanation is the word “leg” does not refer to the actor but to the curtains that mask the backstage which are known as “legs.” “Breaking a leg” means you’ve crossed from the backstage into the front, thus entering the spotlight.
It’s bad luck to say the name of the play Macbeth in the theatre as it curses the production. Many actors will refer to it as the Scottish play or the Bard’s play instead. It’s widely believed that Shakespeare used a real spell incantation for the opening scene and real witches cursed the play because of this. In 1606 the actor playing Lady Macbeth died tragically and Shakespeare himself had to step into the role. Other productions have been plagued with accidents such as actors falling off the stage, mysterious deaths, and even narrow misses by falling stage weights.
The last person leaving the theatre at night is responsible for leaving on the ghost light – a light in the middle of the stage that stays on when all other lights have been turned off. Now this may have a more practical reason seeing as there’s usually a lot of debris on stage for someone to trip over in the dark, but the light also appeases any spirits who may be living in the theatre and keeps them from playing pranks.
It’s bad luck to whistle backstage. This superstition started in the middle of the 1600s when scenery was lifted into the air by ropes and pulleys. The stage hands would communicate with each other by whistling, so a random whistle could cue a stagehand to lift or drop scenery with disastrous results.
Blue should not be worn on stage. Several centuries ago, blue dyes were expensive because they were so difficult to make and a theatre troupe’s success was often judged by the number of blue costumes it could afford. Failing troupes would spend every penny they had on blue costumes to deceive audiences into thinking they were more successful than they actually were. To distinguish themselves, the more successful troupes would adorn their blue costumes with silver because only a flourishing troupe could afford to do so. To this day, blue costumes are considered unlucky and a sign of failure unless they’re paired with silver.
Green is often shunned as well. When the spotlight was first invented it worked by burning a chemical called quicklime, which is where the term “limelight,” originated. The limelight had a greenish glow to it and any actor wearing green might not be visible when hit by the spotlight. The other reason to avoid green was that it was the colour of the costume actor/playwright Molière was wearing in 1673 when he suffered a coughing fit while onstage, brought on by tuberculosis. Though he finished his performance he had started to hemmorage and died, still in his green costume.
Bringing a peacock feather on stage will bring bad luck to a production. The eye-like pattern on the end of the feather is reminiscent of the evil eye, something that has been thought to bring on a malevolent curse since the early Greeks. Peacock feathers were also feared by the early Europeans as they were part of the adornment of the Mongols who invaded during the Middle Ages. Peacock feathers became associated with that dark and bloody history and no one wanted it associated with their production.
Don’t give gifts of flowers before the performance because it tempts the fates to ensure a lacklustre show. But interestingly enough, there was at one time a tradition that involved giving the leading lady and the director a bouquet of flowers stolen from a graveyard when the show closes to symbolize the death of the show.
It stands to reason in the early days of theatre having an open flame was dangerous as well as unlucky, theatres being built of wood with thatched roofs. Shakepeare’s Globe Theatre burned down when a cannon was set off during a production of Henry VIII. Having three lit candles on stage was considered especially unlucky, as the person standing closest to the shortest candle would be the first to die.
Mirrors on stage are considered bad luck because they reflect light, which can wreck havoc with the lighting design of a production. A reflected spotlight could blind an actor, causing him to walk right off the edge of the stage.
Other Theatre superstitions:
* A bad dress rehearsal portends a great opening night.
* To keep the ghosts of a theatre quiet, there should be at least one night a week when the theatre is empty (traditionally Monday night).
* It’s bad luck if a cat runs across the stage during a performance.
* It’s good luck if you’re greeted at the stage door by the theatre cat.
* It’s excellent luck if the cat rubs up against or sits on your knee, and it will bring good reviews.
* A loose thread on a costume must be snapped, never cut, off and wrapped around the forefinger. The number of loops will tell you how long the run of the show will be.
* Never speak the last line of the play while in rehearsals or the play will never get through a performance.
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