Very Superstitious!
14-1-16
Theatre people are notoriously superstitious. I've heard crazy stories about what actors do to keep good luck in and bad luck out. Here are some of the tried and true classics. But I know there are some really good ones that you all want to share of a personal nature! Leave a comment of your best theatre superstition moment!
BREAK A LEG
Break a leg is a famous theatre saying taken from Shakespeare's days. Back in those days you could only appear in the downstage below the first leg if you were presenting a solo piece to the audience in a opera or a monologue. Back then, they would step forward and present the speech then step backward into the piece to kill their wife. (Makes no sense in story telling, but those were the days!) You would tell an actor to break a leg in order for them to get their chance to show their stuff. If you were chorus back then you were stuck in the upstage which at that time was tilted at 45 degree angle like a ramp to help with visibility. (Hence, Upstage.)
The photo appearing in this article is of the famous, Drury Lane. A very famous raked stage built in 1675. For a well known modern rake stage see the scenic design by Cirque's KA or the mechanical rake that adjusted in Taymor's Spiderman: Turn off the Dark.
For more info and variations on the "Break a leg" saying, see a whole wikipedia dedicated to it, here.
DON'T WHISTLE
The master of the flies is the role in the theatre who controls the fly rail or the rail where the backdrops move up and down. Before the time of mechanical/ balance run rails flies were ran by gravity and weight systems. Mainly sandbags and rope. Remember those episodes of The Muppet Show where Gonzo would get hit by a sandbag. That totally would have broken his neck. Back then in a dark theatre people would control the fly master to drop a backdrop by whistling. Different whistles for different rails. Whistling in the theatre would mean taking your life in your hands.
THE SCOTTISH PLAY
During the Victorian Era during a production of Macbeth the theatre caught on fire. This was not because of the play but because they were using real fire in the burlesque foot lamps. One year later the actor playing Macbeth in London was killed onstage in a sword fight. Macbeth despite being a play known for being incredibly violent only has 3 onstage deaths. One of these is the death of a small child and a pregnant woman. The religious groups said at the time that the play was cursed for mocking these evil deeds and presenting witches on stage.
And theatre kids these days are still refusing to say the name of our tragic hero....
THE GHOST LAMP
Actually, this one is quite lame in its reasoning. People think, "Oo.. The ghost lamp! You're keeping the evil spirits away!" But no... You have to leave one lamp on stage for legal reasons so no one falls into the pit, breaks their legs, and sues you. It's a superstitition that sounds more exciting than it actually is. But please remember to leave your ghost lamp on. A college was successfully sued in the 90's for not having one when a burgular fell into the pit while trying to steal the power tools. True story.
NO REAL MONEY OR BIBLES
It's bad luck for real money to appear on stage during a production. Apparently, it's "flaunting wealth", your production will close early, your producers will go broke and everyone will be the laughing stock of the community. Bibles are not supposed to appear on stage as well for fear they will be dropped or destroyed during the action. Props departments make copies of Bibles (normally out of encyclopedias) rather than use the real thing.
PEACOCK FEATHERS
This one was one that one of my opera directors was really particular about. No peacock feathers are to appear in costumes, as props, near sets or anywhere in the dressing rooms. As a symbol of the sin of "pride", the feathers are apparently very bad luck and are notoriously associated with sets falling down and people having horrible accidents on stage.
GREEN
The color green is apparently a bad luck color to bring on stage as a design element. This isn't so much true. Green is just a really hard color to light. The superstition brought around the color was probably built around it to help make the lighting designer's job easier.
LAI SEE DO FOR THOSE THAT GO
This is one I had never heard of before until fellow critic Tom told me about it. Apparently it's a Cantonese Theatre tradition. Apparently, when an actor must die a death onstage he or she is given lai see by their fellow cast mates so that ill will doesn't befall the production. Have any of you ever done this before?
Of course many other traditions and superstitions exist out there... I would love to hear about them. So, leave some of your more bizarre ones down in the comment section!
Comments
nike free gyakusou
Aw, this was a very nice post. In concept I would like to put in writing like this moreover ?taking time and actual effort to make an excellent article?but what can I say?I procrastinate alot and by no means seem to get something done. nike free gyakusou http://www.shopsales.site/nike-air-max-tn-mens-shoes-red-gray-p-1519.html
22 August 2017