The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill,...
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Transcript of The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill,...
![Page 1: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
The Curse of Macbeth
Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play?
From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984
![Page 2: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
The Curse• For the opening scene of Act IV,
Shakespeare reproduced a 17th century black-magic ritual.
• Witches, unhappy with Shakespeare’s exposure of their craft, cast an everlasting spell on the play as punishment.
![Page 3: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Invoking the Curse-Saying the word, Macbeth, out loud
in a theater will bring bad luck to the actors/crew.
-The only exception is if you are in a performance or rehearsal.
-Actors take this VERY seriously!
![Page 4: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
![Page 5: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
1606: Actor Dies
Shakespeare is forced to play the
role of Lady Macbeth when the original actor died. King James I was so displeased that he
banned the play for five years.
![Page 6: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
1672: Murder occurs on stage
In Amsterdam, the actor playing
Macbeth substituted a real
dagger for the stage dagger and killed Duncan in full view of the
audience.
![Page 7: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Lady Macbeth: Lady of UNluck
As Lady Macbeth, Sarah
Siddons was nearly ravaged
by a disapproving audience in 1775; Sybil
Thorndike was almost
strangled by a burly actor in 1926; Diana
Wynyard sleepwalked off
the stage in 1948, falling down 15 feet.
![Page 8: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
1849: Astor Place Riot
During its 1849 performance at New York's Astor Place, a riot broke out in which 31 people were trampled to
death.
![Page 9: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
1937: Man in Audience Suffers Heart Attack
In 1937, when Laurence Olivier
took on the role of Macbeth, a 25 pound stage
weight crashed within an inch of
him, and his sword which
broke onstage flew into the
audience and hit a man who later
suffered a heart attack.
![Page 10: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
1934: Actor and Replacement Get Sick
In 1934, British actor Malcolm Keen turned
mute onstage, and his
replacement, Alister Sim, like
Hal Berridge before him, developed a
high fever and had to be
hospitalized.
![Page 11: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
1942: 5 DieIn the 1942
Macbeth production headed by
John Gielgud, three actors -- Duncan and
two witches -- died, and the costume and set designer committed
suicide amidst his devilish Macbeth
creations.
![Page 12: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
1953: “…. pants on fire.”
The indestructible Charlton Heston, in an outdoor
production in Bermuda in 1953, suffered severe burns
in his groin and leg area from tights that were accidentally
soaked in kerosene.
![Page 13: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
1970-now: The Curse Continues
An actor's strike ruined Rip Torn's 1970 production in New York CityTwo fires and seven robberies
plagued the 1971 version starring David Leary
In the 1981 production at Lincoln Center, J. Kenneth Campbell, who played Macduff, was mugged soon
after the play's opening.
![Page 14: The Curse of Macbeth Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? From Dina Tritsch, Showbill, April 1984.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062407/56649e575503460f94b4fef1/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Reversing the Curse• The person who uttered the word
must exit the theater, spin around three times saying a profanity, and then ask for permission to return inside
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Coincidence or Curse?????