Thursday, November 4, 2010

The Scottish play

Are you superstitious? Do you worry if you see a black cat or expect seven year’s bad luck if you break a mirror?

If so, you would have to be careful as an actor or actress.

One of the best things you can do as an actor is to act in a Shakespeare play.

There are many classics such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello and The Merchant of Venice.

One of the most famous plays is ‘The Scottish play.’

Of course, that’s not its real name but no actor would dare say its name directly as this would bring extremely bad luck - even death! This is a very strong tradition in theatre and is still followed by all actors because many serious accidents have occurred.

One explanation is that the play involves a lot of sword fighting so is naturally dangerous. Another theory is that there is a scene in which witches cast a spell. It is believed that in his research, Shakespeare met real witches and used a real spell, so that the play is cursed!

If you are not sure which play I am talking about here it is. A very spooky Polanski film version!