1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, they're 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: brain stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. If you're listening in 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:11,880 Speaker 1: a theater, you might want to save this one for later, 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: because today we're talking about the Scottish play. William Shakespeare's 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: tragedy Macbeth is steeped in deceit, murder, and manipulation, and 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: surrounded by real life superstitions enough that plenty of theater 7 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,119 Speaker 1: professionals and enthusiasts won't even say the word Macbeth outside 8 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: of the actual staging of a show. In the play, 9 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: the Scottish general Macbeth returns home from the battlefield and 10 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: encounters three witches who make a trio of prophecies. Many 11 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,279 Speaker 1: playgoers and performers believe that incantations in Macbeth were genuine 12 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: curses taken from an actual coven. It's certainly one explanation 13 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: for all of the injuries, accidents, and illnesses that have 14 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: befallen so many of the people involved with its productions. 15 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: For example, during the first performance of Vicbeth and the 16 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: early six hundreds, the actor portraying Lady Macbeth fell ill 17 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: and died on stage, forcing Shakespeare to take over the role. 18 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: In later performances, theatergoers sometimes became so caught up in 19 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: the action that they formed angry mobs and tried to 20 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: exact justice on the antagonist, Lady Macbeth. Once in eighteen 21 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: forty nine, more than thirty people died when rioting occurred 22 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 1: part way through the play. Legendary actors like Laurence Olivier 23 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: and Charlton Heston experienced close calls during performances. Olivier, who 24 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: played Macbeth in nineteen thirty seven, was nearly crushed to 25 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: death by a stage light. Heston, who took the role 26 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: on in nineteen fifty three, was severely burned on his 27 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: lower extremities after his tights were somehow dusting Kerosene, the 28 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,480 Speaker 1: eddy of misfortunes swirling around Macbeth, seems to mimic the 29 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: tragedies that take place on stage. Lady Macbeth, in an 30 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: effort to speed her husband's rise to the throne, encourages 31 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 1: him to murder the reigning king. When Macbeth does, he 32 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: enters into a state of paranoia. He murders his best friend, 33 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: whose children are prophesies to take the throne in the future, 34 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: as well as an entire family who sees his competition. 35 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: In the end, a lady Macbeth dies of guilt and 36 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: Macbeth is killed two. Meanwhile, audiences have been left to 37 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: wonder whether the witches after whom the Macbeth rolls were 38 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: patterned might have stolen into the theater, watched the first 39 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: dress rehearsal, and left a curse that has endured for centuries. 40 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: Perhaps they didn't appreciate their spells being put on display 41 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: for public consumption. Maybe they just weren't fans of the theater. 42 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: Whatever the reason, legend has it that they've banded together 43 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: and cursed the play's future productions. There are other, perhaps 44 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: more plausible explanations, though for starters, most of the plays 45 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: performed in dimly lit and foggy conditions, which have probably 46 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: led to many of the on stage accidents that have 47 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: plague productions. And then there are the fight scenes. Macbeth 48 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: has more skirmishes than most plays, which increases the odds 49 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: that something will go wrong. Condense all this strife into 50 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: the Bard's shortest tragedy, it's no wonder that people have 51 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: gotten hurt. All live productions flirt with mishaps, both large 52 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: and small. Costumes can malfunction, actors can get sick, crew 53 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: members of stained injuries. When multiplied by the thousands of 54 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,239 Speaker 1: times Macbeth has been performed throughout the last four centuries, 55 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: these problems are bound to add up and perpetuate the 56 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: belief that the play is cursed. But if anything weird 57 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: happens to me after this episode, y'all take heat and 58 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: just be carefu well with that name. Yeah. Today's episode 59 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: was written by Laurie L. Dove and produced by Tristan McNeil. 60 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:12,519 Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other dramatic topics, 61 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.