A) Read the text and look up the unknown words in the dictionary. Theatrical Superstitions

Theatrical Superstitions

Many theatergoers will be surprised to learn how many theatrical superstitions still exist in modern acting companies. Theater folk from a booking-clerk in the box-office to the production manager are superstitious. As lots of factors can and do make a performance go wrong, it’s not surprising that there are lists of things that you must not do when you are in a theater.

Often we can only guess at how they started. Sometimes the reasons are doubtful.

Long-time stage-hands can tell you about many sad and even tragic events which happened to actors or productions after someone said the name ‘Macbeth’ within a theater. Instead the play must be called ‘The Scottish Play’ or ‘The Bard’s Play’ and the title character ‘the Scottish Lord’. There are several possible origins for this superstition. According to one theory, it is due to the opening scene where witches pronounce some magic words which Shakespeare himself got from real witches.

One of the best-known theatrical traditions is never to wish an actor good luck. There is an array of explaining versions. In order to outwit bad spirits, people often say the opposite of what they actually mean. So the expression ‘Break a leg’ is used instead of ‘Have a great show!’ Also, in theatre, a ‘leg’ is a curtain, and a highly successful run with repeated curtain calls could break the machinery that raises and lowers the ‘leg’ (curtain). Another possible root of the expression suggests that after a good performance actors were thrown money on the stage and they had to kneel down to collect the money or place one foot behind the other and bend at the knee for the curtain call thus ‘breaking’ the line of the leg. In Elizabethan times instead of applause the audience stomped their chairs – and if they liked the performance enough, the leg of the chair broke.

Like castles, theatres in England have ghosts. The ‘ghost light’ is placed in the centre of the stage and always burns in an empty theatre at night. On the one hand it protects the hall from evil ghosts. But the backstage area of a theatre is always in a mess because of a large number of props, set pieces and costumes stored there. So anyone who finds their way in the completely darkened space may fall over the obstacles while hunting for a light switch. Thus the ‘ghost light’ protects mere mortals as well.

Really, quite a number of superstitions have a factual practical value. No real flowers and jewellery should ever be used on stage. Real flowers must be replaced regularly, and the potential for slips and falls on a wet stage is always present. Expensive items may become lost, broken or stolen during a production run. But what about not using antique things? The use of a real Bible or mirrors is also discouraged onstage.

Some theatrical superstitions really seem illogical but no one expects theatre folks to be logical!

Actors must never place shoes or hats on chairs or tables inside the dressing rooms and always exit the dressing room left foot first. A black cat should be brought backstage right before going on stage to help give a show-stopping, better-than-ever performance. No flowers are to be presented to actors before a performance, only afterwards! An actor’s make-up box is never to be cleaned out for new make-up. Brand-new make-up is never worn on a first night. A show is never opened on a Friday night. It is bad luck to speak the last line of the play before the premiere, because ‘the play mustn’t be finished until performed without an audience’. A bad dress rehearsal will make a great opening night. And many, many more…

Constantly repeated and regularly practised, theatrical superstitions are a firm part of what makes theatre interesting and colorful.