Will McClure

1
The Curse of the Scottish Play

• Will McClure
• Logan Guler
• Casey Knox
• Sydney Knudsen

2
The Curse

• It is said that it is bad luck to say MacBeth
  inside of theaters
• It is said anyone that says it will receive the
  worst luck in their life following
• If accidently said there are two ways to cancel
  out what has been said
• The first is leave the room, close the door, turn
  around three times, say a dirty word, knock on
  the door, and asked to be let back in
• An alternative way is to say a quote from Hamlet,
  Act 1, Scene 4 Angels and ministers of grace
  defend us!

3
The Opposite Theory

• In another hypothesis MacBeth is said to be the
  luckiest play of all time for theaters
• MacBeth was a play put on by struggling theaters
  often
• MacBeth, no matter where or when it was put on,
  was considered a guaranteed full-house
• Sir Donald Sinden said "contrary to popular myth,
  Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth is not the
  unluckiest play as superstition likes to portray
  it. Exactly the opposite!

4
Reason for Curse

• The reason for the curse is said to be because
  Shakespeare used authentic witch chants in the
  play
• The real witches that heard of this casted a
  spell, as punishment, on the play forever
• Because of this King James the First banned the
  play from England for five years because of the
  curse and because the witch chants seemed too real

5
Reported History of the Cursed Play

• In the first ever production of MacBeth, August 7
  1606, Hal Berridge, the boy playing Lady MacBeth,
  became feverish and died backstage
• Shakespeare finished the play as Lady MacBeth
• In 1672 production in Amsterdam, the actor
  playing MacBeth accidently substituted a real
  dagger for the blunted stage dagger and killed
  the actor playing Duncan, in full view of the
  audience

6
Reported History of the Cursed Play (continued)

• London 1703, opening production, England hit with
  one of the worst storms in the nations history
• In 1845, audience threw fruit and chairs at rival
  characters on stage started a riot militia
  fired on crowd, and more then 20 died and 30-plus
  more were wounded
• In 1942, the first modern dressed production, a
  large set collapsed and seriously injured about
  five casting members
• Also 1942, three actors died during practice
  (separate times), two witches and Duncan, and the
  set designer committed suicide

7
Recap of the Scottish Play

• While many people would say this is the most
  unlucky play ever made, others would argue
  differently
• It saved many theaters over the years that were
  failing and soon to become bankrupt
• However, there have been more deaths in this then
  any other play ever
• Is this play cursed? Or is it a coincidence? You
  can decide that one for yourself

8
Work Cited

• Straight Dope, The
• http//www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2267/wha
  ts-the-story-on-the-curse-of-em-macbeth-em
• The Scottish Play-Wikipedia
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scottish_Play