He's spot on. I was the the instigator of the curse while working backstage on a show years ago. I mentioned the name of the play and I didn't do anything to undo the curse. During a blackout, our lead actress walked right into a wall and she had to go back onstage moments later and sing her big number with kleenex stuffed up her bleeding nose. The stage manager gave me an earful at intermission.
The difficulty of the play is that much of the performance will take place in semi-darkness and so the risk of accident is greater. There is also a theory that the spell spoken by the witches in the apparition scene is a real spell; Shakespeare was from Warwickshire, which was a notorious witchcraft area during the 15/16 century. However, a more mundane theory is the one that Sir Patrick says comes from Simon Callow and I was first told over forty years ago. Macbeth has always been good box-office and in the 18/19th century,during the days of the actor-managers, if a company was doing badly they would stage Macbeth, pay off their debts and often disband. So if an actor saw that Macbeth was appearing in the schedule then it, probably, meant that unemployment was not far behind.
I remember being at a Star Trek convention in around 1995 with Armin Shimmerman (Quark on DS9), who as a testament to his Shakespearian bonefides, hunched his back and gave a prompt monologue from Richard III. The crowd was agog. Good times.
lol shakespeares works will b remembered long after ur eventual death & tha deaths of eryone who remembered u, & u dont think they contain any kinda enduring cultural or artistic power?
Well guys! I am a theatre director and actor from Kolkata, India. I didn't believe in the all these nonsense of the curse thingy. But now as I am directing it, I 100% agree that it is cursed. It has put my life up side down. The play has been postponed multiple times, actors abandoned multiple times, weird occurrences every now and then. This is the last time I am in a Macbeth production.
For us actors it's as much of a tradition as a superstition. While many I know are actually very superstitious about many things, especially that, I am not superstitious at all. However, the few times I've slipped and said "Macbeth" or quoted it on stage, I immediately jump up and do whatever cleansing I have to do. It's a commonality we as members of the stage share.
I remember in my schools one act, one of the actors said “Macbeth” we all sort of ganged up on them until it was time to go on. Several things went wrong. One of which was a computer start up sound playing over the loud speakers which was not supposed to happen. Needless to say, we got third place
@fwsimon110 ok i never said that name on school grounds i prefer to say it at home or at work also i prefer say that name if I'm going out of town or out to eat
I thought it was the merchant of venice that was supposed to counter any bad luck (or quoting from Hamlet). Here he says it is A midsummer night's dream
wat is a word, dawg? why dont animals naturally use words? u dont think language has tha power 2 shape & influence how we perceive reality as human beings?
Of course, it helps to be a witch. We are immune to the curse of Macbeth. The curse surrounds the spells that the witches encant. Not only are they based upon real spells, but they are a corruption of those spells and Shakesspear's usurpation of them was a huge affront.
"So, you want me to call it The Scottish Play?"
"YES!"
"...rather than Macbeth?"
"ARRRGH!"
"Hot potato, orchestra stalls, puck will make amends. Aaaaarrgh"
"Good lord. You mean, you have to do that every time I say Macbeth?"
He's spot on. I was the the instigator of the curse while working backstage on a show years ago. I mentioned the name of the play and I didn't do anything to undo the curse. During a blackout, our lead actress walked right into a wall and she had to go back onstage moments later and sing her big number with kleenex stuffed up her bleeding nose.
The stage manager gave me an earful at intermission.
The difficulty of the play is that much of the performance will take place in semi-darkness and so the risk of accident is greater. There is also a theory that the spell spoken by the witches in the apparition scene is a real spell; Shakespeare was from Warwickshire, which was a notorious witchcraft area during the 15/16 century. However, a more mundane theory is the one that Sir Patrick says comes from Simon Callow and I was first told over forty years ago. Macbeth has always been good box-office and in the 18/19th century,during the days of the actor-managers, if a company was doing badly they would stage Macbeth, pay off their debts and often disband. So if an actor saw that Macbeth was appearing in the schedule then it, probably, meant that unemployment was not far behind.
I remember being at a Star Trek convention in around 1995 with Armin Shimmerman
(Quark on DS9), who as a testament to his Shakespearian bonefides, hunched his back and
gave a prompt monologue from Richard III. The crowd was agog. Good times.
That's awesome. Shakespeare's language has power.
nah, but the witches that he disrespected had power, and still do cuz people are afraid of this play.
lol shakespeares works will b remembered long after ur eventual death & tha deaths of eryone who remembered u, & u dont think they contain any kinda enduring cultural or artistic power?
Well guys! I am a theatre director and actor from Kolkata, India. I didn't believe in the all these nonsense of the curse thingy. But now as I am directing it, I 100% agree that it is cursed. It has put my life up side down. The play has been postponed multiple times, actors abandoned multiple times, weird occurrences every now and then. This is the last time I am in a Macbeth production.
I thought the superstitions were rubbish too. Good job I don't work in a theatre!!
Damn I too am from Kolkata
Never thought of quoting Midsummer to undo it! Haha
For us actors it's as much of a tradition as a superstition. While many I know are actually very superstitious about many things, especially that, I am not superstitious at all. However, the few times I've slipped and said "Macbeth" or quoted it on stage, I immediately jump up and do whatever cleansing I have to do. It's a commonality we as members of the stage share.
I'm in theatre as well and have yet to work on a Macbeth production c
I remember in my schools one act, one of the actors said “Macbeth” we all sort of ganged up on them until it was time to go on. Several things went wrong. One of which was a computer start up sound playing over the loud speakers which was not supposed to happen. Needless to say, we got third place
What other things went wrong
@@johnnyboy-ws3we well, a pretty expensive prop fell down and broke, cues were missed, lines forgotten, ect
@fwsimon110 ok i never said that name on school grounds i prefer to say it at home or at work also i prefer say that name if I'm going out of town or out to eat
MACBETH!!!
damn.
Can anyone tell me if Macbeth productions face a lot of trouble?
Would this work on predatory actors? Might be a clever way of getting out of that situation by taking advantage of their superstition.
when did this happen? He's a lot thinner than he was on Trek
Well its not like there's a solid laid out set of rules for these things. No doubt it differs from place to place.
listening to this I felt like I was 100% being watched 😨
I'm not saying it's real but I don't think it's a myth, I've witnessed things after the word was said in theater
this is Azkaban! don't you start saying the name, Macbeth! the Scottish play that must not be named!
I thought it was the merchant of venice that was supposed to counter any bad luck (or quoting from Hamlet). Here he says it is A midsummer night's dream
As an actor, this shit drives me insane. It’s just a fucking word.
wat is a word, dawg? why dont animals naturally use words? u dont think language has tha power 2 shape & influence how we perceive reality as human beings?
Of course, it helps to be a witch. We are immune to the curse of Macbeth. The curse surrounds the spells that the witches encant. Not only are they based upon real spells, but they are a corruption of those spells and Shakesspear's usurpation of them was a huge affront.
What do witches do, like fly on brooms and make some soups?
@@herbseinburg449 No, just learn to work with psychic energy and nature.
@@Herrera_70 I think they fly on broom and make ssoups
@@Herrera_70 and laugh like the ehhhe eheheheee hee
It's fine to do it on a lark but many take it seriously. That's a bad thing.
Fake. It's just a play