Reading: Theater Superstitions

Theater Folk are a superstitious lot, and considering the amount of things
that can (and do) go wrong in a performance, it‘s not surprising that
folklore has popped up giving an explanation to these occurrences.
These myths go above and beyond walking under ladders and opening
umbrellas inside (although those are adhered to as well!); these are
specifically for those working in the arts.
Superstition: It is bad luck to wear the color blue onstage, unless it was
countered with something silver. In the early days of theater costuming,
it was extremely difficult to make blue dye, and thus expensive to
purchase. Companies that were failing would wear blue garments to
try and fool their audience as to their success, and likely go bankrupt due
to the cost of the costumes. The silver that countered it was proof of a
successful company, as it proved to the audience that they could afford
real silver or they had a wealthy backer.
Superstition: To wish someone “Good luck” before a show is bad luck.
Generally, it is considered bad luck to wish someone good luck in a
theater, the expression ― Break a Leg‖ replaces the phrase ― Good luck!
There are many theories of the origin of this superstition of wishing luck
to the actors, but here are a few: - After a good performance during
Elizabethan England, actors were thrown money on the stage and they
would kneel down to collect the money thus “breaking” the line of the
leg.
- Similarly, for the curtain call, when actors bow or curtsy, they place
one foot behind the other and bend at the knee, thus “breaking” the line
of the leg.
Superstition: Saying the word “Macbeth” in a theater will result in
extreme bad luck. Theater folk avoid using it, referring to the play as
“The Scottish Play” or “The Bard‘s Play”. If the name is spoken in a
theater, there is a cleansing ritual one can do to rectify the mistake. The
ritual I am familiar with is: The person is required to leave the theater
building, spit, curse and spin around three times, before begging to be
allowed back inside. There are several possible origins for this
superstition. One option is to believe in witchcraft. According to one
superstition, Shakespeare himself got the words from a coven of real
witches, who, after seeing the play weren‘t impressed by their portrayal.
Another says the props master from the original performance stole a
cauldron from said coven, and the witches, again, weren‘t impressed.
The best witchcraft explanation is that Shakespeare put a curse on the
play so that no-one, other than him, would be able to direct it correctly.
Another origin is that there is more swordplay in it than most other
Shakespeare plays, and, therefore, more chances for someone to get
injured. But the option I believe is most likely is that, due to the plays
popularity, it was often run by theaters that were in debt and as a last
attempt to increase patronage; the theaters normally went bankrupt
soon after.

Comprehension task. Mark True or False.

1. The number of superstitions among theater folk is almost unlimited.
2. Silver used to assert success of the company.
3. Once you say „Macbeth‟ in a theater, there is no way you can deter
bad luck.
4. Shakespeare might have insulted some magicians in the past.
5. Running „Macbeth‟ was sometimes the last chance for theatres to
have their heads above
water