Macbeth: The Curse

1. Macbeth: The Curse Feraco Search for Human Potential 22 October 2013

2. Believe it or not, there are actually two curses related to the play. With respect to the first one, individuals shouldn’t even say the word “Macbeth” in a theater (rehearsals and performances excluded). Safe alternatives include “MacB,” or (more popularly) “The Scottish Play.” Generally speaking, “Macbeth” is only a cursed term inside a theater, and not, say, a classroom or a cineplex. If you have to say the name – for whatever reason – try to confine your usage to these safe zones.

3. You can take measures to ward off the curse. First: Make the speaker leave! The offender must close the door, turn around three times, curse (or spit), then knock on the door and ask to be allowed back inside. (Theoretically, this is the part where you let them back in…although if you choose not to do so, it is their fault for putting themselves in that situation to begin with.) Also, if you choose to banish them, you’re merely exploring one of Shakespeare’s central themes…just sayin’. If all else fails, steal from Hamlet (Act I, Scene IV) and yell: “Angels and ministers of grace defend us!”

4. The second popular belief about Macbeth is that the play – and subsequent productions of it – are cursed, not just the name. Indeed, there are plenty of bloody examples from Macbeth’s notoriously troubled history that support this belief. You’ll have to decide for yourself whether the belief is valid, of course.

5. As legend has it, the curses are actually Shakespeare’s fault. Rather than make up his own witch chants and curses, he used “authentic” ones. “Real” witches were supposedly so infuriated by Shakespeare’s transgression that they placed an eternal hex on the play. Seems like a high price to pay for authenticity…

6. Supposedly, the actor playing Lady Macbeth (he happened to be male – but anyone who has seen Shakespeare in Love probably already assumed that) grew sick and died backstage during the first production of the play. Shakespeare had to take the stage and assume the role in order to finish the performance. Some even claim that the playwright did such a poor job that he angrily ordered his actors to never refer to the play by its name (thus starting the “don’t say the name!” curse).

7. Macbeth joined the venerable ranks of banned literature in 1606. King James I of England believed that the witch chants contained within the play were too realistic (I wonder why?), and banned the production for five years after first watching it. Once production resumed, it didn’t seem like a very problematic play. It took a few years for the Macbeth curses to really “kick in,” and to therefore take hold in popular culture.

8. Oddly enough, more documented instances exist in the 20th century than during earlier periods. However, the more serious incidents generally took place at least fifty years ago, beginning in 1672. In that instance, the actor playing Macbeth switched the dulled prop dagger for a real, sharpened blade – and stabbed the actor playing Duncan to death in front of the paying audience! (Don’t bring kids to this play – you never know what might happen…)

9. The opening run of the 1703 production was canceled when England was hit by one of the most tremendous storms in its history. A rude nobleman stood up during a performance in 1721 and walked across the stage in order to go talk to his friend. After the actors chased him away, he returned with a band of militiamen who promptly burned the theater to the ground…with people still inside. And in 1775, the actress playing Lady Macbeth was nearly attacked by an audience who disliked her performance.

10. William Charles Macready and Edwin Forrest were rivals, and the two staged competing productions of Macbeth in New York City on May 10, 1849. (Drama nerd smackdown!) Forrest’s fans threw fruit and chairs at Macready during his performance, which led (naturally) to a riot. The militia was called, arrived, and promptly fired on the crowd. More than twenty people were killed, and over thirty others were wounded. As anyone in Advanced Drama can attest, that’s just another night at the theatre…

11. Abraham Lincoln read the scenes immediately following Duncan’s assassination to an audience of his friends (no word on whether he was in a theater). A week later, Lincoln himself would be assassinated (in a theater, no less). In 1926, another actor tried to strangle the actress playing Lady Macbeth – and nearly succeeded.

12. A large set collapsed in 1928, seriously injuring many members of the crew. Also in 1937, a heavy counterweight fell to the stage during the performance, missing lead actor Laurence Olivier by inches. (The stage itself, as you can imagine, fared worse.) During a production run in 1942, three actors died; even the set designer committed suicide.

13. On a Thursday night in1945, actor Harold Norman was killed onstage during the fight in Act V. His ghost is said to haunt that theater every Thursday. (Which day of the week is it?) In a separate performance, the actress playing Lady Macbeth walked off the stage and fell fifteen feet during her sleepwalking scene (she would return and finish the play).

14. And in a notorious recent example, Charleton Heston was almost killed during an outdoor production in 1953, when flames and smoke were blown into the audience during the siege on Macbeth’s castle. Heston suffered severe trauma to his legs and groin because his tights had been soaked in kerosene…by mistake. (How does that happen?)

15. The list goes on from there, but suffice it to say that this is a fairly troubled play. Granted, we have been performing it for four centuries – things are bound to go wrong over that span of time. I don’t know if there’s a curse… …but you definitely won’t see me running into a theater and shouting the name any time soon.