Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hi,
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here with another classic episode from
Speaker 1: our podcast archives. This one has to do with Shakespeare's
Speaker 1: Scottish play and why it's referred to as that sometimes
Speaker 1: and how the idea that it's cursed may have gotten started.
Speaker 1: Hey there, brain Stuff, Lauren vogel Bam here. If you're
Speaker 1: listening in a theater, you might want to save this
Speaker 1: one for later, because today we're talking about the Scottish play.
Speaker 1: William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth is steeped in deceit, murder, and manipulation,
Speaker 1: and surrounded by real life superstitions enough that plenty of
Speaker 1: theater professionals and enthusiasts won't even say the word Macbeth
Speaker 1: outside of the actual staging of a show. In the play,
Speaker 1: the Scottish General Macbeth returns home from the battlefield and
Speaker 1: encounters three witches who make a trio of prophecies. Many
Speaker 1: playgoers and performers believe the incantations in Macbeth were genuine
Speaker 1: curses taken from an actual coven. It's so only one
Speaker 1: explanation for all of the injuries, accidents, and illnesses that
Speaker 1: have befallen so many of the people involved with its productions.
Speaker 1: For example, during the first performance of Vicbeth and the
Speaker 1: early sixteen hundreds, the actor portraying Lady Macbeth fell ill
Speaker 1: and died on stage, forcing Shakespeare to take over the role.
Speaker 1: In later performances, theatergoers sometimes became so caught up in
Speaker 1: the action that they formed angry mobs and tried to
Speaker 1: exact justice on the antagonist Lady Macbeth. Once in eighteen
Speaker 1: forty nine, more than thirty people died when rioting occurred
Speaker 1: part way through the play. Legendary actors like Lawrence Olivier
Speaker 1: and Charlton Heston experienced close calls during performances. Olivier, who
Speaker 1: played McBeth in nineteen thirty seven, was nearly crushed to
Speaker 1: death by a stage light. Heston, who took the role
Speaker 1: on in nineteen fifty three, was severely burned on his
Speaker 1: lower extremities after his tights were somehow dusting kerosene. The
Speaker 1: eddy of misfortunes swirling around Macbeth seems to mimic the
Speaker 1: tragedies that take place on stage. Lady Macbeth, in an
Speaker 1: effort to speed her husband's rise to the throne encourages
Speaker 1: him to murder the reigning king. When Macbeth does, he
Speaker 1: enters into a state of paranoia. He murders his best friend,
Speaker 1: whose children are prophesied to take the throne in the future,
Speaker 1: as well as an entire family who sees his competition.
Speaker 1: In the end, a lady Macbeth dies of guilt and
Speaker 1: Macbeth is killed too. Meanwhile, audiences have been left to
Speaker 1: wonder whether the witches after whom the Macbeth rolls were
Speaker 1: patterned might have stolen into the theater, watched the first
Speaker 1: address rehearsal, and left a curse that has endured for centuries.
Speaker 1: Perhaps they didn't appreciate their spells being put on display
Speaker 1: for public consumption. Maybe they just weren't fans of the theater.
Speaker 1: Whatever the reason, legend has it that they banded together
Speaker 1: and cursed the play's future productions. There are other, perhaps
Speaker 1: more plausible explanations, though for starters, most of the plays
Speaker 1: performed in dimly lit and foggy conditions, which have probably
Speaker 1: led to many of the on stage accidents that have
Speaker 1: plagued productions. And then there are the fight scenes. Macbeth
Speaker 1: has more skirmishes than most plays, which increases the odds
Speaker 1: that something will go wrong. Condense all this strife into
Speaker 1: the Bard's shortest tragedy, It's no wonder that people have
Speaker 1: gotten hurt. All live productions flirt with mishaps both large
Speaker 1: and small. Costumes can malfunction, actors can get sick, crew
Speaker 1: members of stained injuries. When multiplied by the thousands of
Speaker 1: times Macbeth has been performed throughout the last four centuries,
Speaker 1: these problems are bound to add up and perpetuate the
Speaker 1: belief that the play is cursed. But if anything weird
Speaker 1: happens to me after this episode, y'all take heat and
Speaker 1: just be careful with that name. Yeah. Today's episode was
Speaker 1: written by Laurie L. Dove and produced by Tristan McNeil
Speaker 1: and Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of
Speaker 1: other topics of sound and fury, visit how stuff works
Speaker 1: dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.