Theatre Superstitions: Beware or Ignore?

Theatre is a very old concept and over the years many superstitions have been picked up, some are still sacred to this day, and some people may never have heard of. In this blog post we are going to discuss the superstitions, their origins and let you know if these are still upheld to this day.

Whistling Backstage Is NOT Permitted

You might think that melodic tunes backstage would be quite common, but it is actually considered very unlucky to whistle backstage. The source of this superstition sates back to when off-duty sailors were hired to run the fly system, due to their knowledge of knots and their experience of lower and raising sails. These sailors used a whistle system to communicate; therefore, whistling was banned to stop miscommunication. Whilst we don’t still use a whistling system to communicate (luckily technology allows us to use radios…), it is still considered bad luck, however not too many people in amateur theatre know about this one, so don’t worry if you catch yourself whistling a song or two.

Break A Leg

This isn’t just a saying that theatre people say, it’s actually a superstition. Many believe it to be extremely bad luck to wish someone good luck, and therefore it is preferred that people say ‘Break a leg’ instead. The idea comes from the days of believing is spirits and demons and they believed that those meddling spirits would ensure the opposite would happen. There is another theory that it means nothing to do with luck at all and it is actually about breaking the ‘leg’ of the theatre (these are the curtains that mask the backstage area from the audience), essentially meaning to go onstage. We prefer the idea of the mischievous spirits though.

Flowers AFTER The Performance

You want to support your theatre friends, so you pop down to your local supermarket and get a lovely bouquet of flowers to wish them the best for their run. However, did you know it’s actually bad luck to deliver the flowers before the performance and you should actually only give them after the show. This comes from old-time actors that believe that you should only receive the gift once you have earnt it and that being gifted them beforehand will lead to a subpar performance. A bonus superstition regarding flowers is that you are actually supposed to give the director of a show stolen flowers from a graveyard on the closing night to symbolise the death of the show, but we think that’s a little bit over the line. Please don’t rob flowers from graves…

Mirrors On The Stage Are Forbidden

You’d believe that because the stage is meant to be an imitation of life at times, anything can be on the stage, however there are some things that are considered cursed and should never be allowed onto the stage. One of those things; mirrors. This goes back to the Ancient times when the Romans believed mirrors had the power to infiltrate the soul and change it. This is also why you get seven years bad luck if you break one. Also, mirrors are a bit of a pain to work with from a technical standpoint, casting lighting reflections all over the place, especially into people’s eyes.

Don’t Wear Blue… Or A Peacock Feather… Or Real Jewellery!

Blue doesn’t seem like an unlucky colour, but it’s actually considered rather unlucky in theatre, or at least it used to. The origins of this come down to finance. Back in ye olde times, blue was the most expensive colour dye and therefore blue costumes were rather pricey. Producers then started a rumour that blue costumes were unlucky, so that people wouldn’t want to wear them, bringing the costs down for those producers.

Peacock feathers is another odd one, but this goes back to the Ancient Greeks. The story goes that Hera hired a hundred eyed giant to watch a cow, the giant was killed so Hera transferred the eyes onto a peacock’s tail. The giant’s death then became associated with a peacock and people then thought it would bring them bad fortune. Then in Shakespeare’s time, the peacock feather was considered extremely bad luck as the eye pattern was deemed to be ‘the evil eye’. Unlucky for Mrs Peacock in our upcoming production of Cluedo (tickets on sale now).

The final costume faux pas on the stage is real jewellery. This is less of a superstition, more of a helpful hint. Back in the day, actors and stagehands were not that well paid, so if you had your real jewellery around and you left it on the side, there was a chance that it wouldn’t be there by the end of the show. So it became good practice to never wear real jewellery or ever handle real cash in a show.

A Bad Dress Means A Good Show

This is a very familiar phrase if you’ve ever been in a production. The idea is that if your dress rehearsal goes poorly, the show is probably going to be a massive hit. The truth is that there is obviously no evidence to support this. It probably comes from directors not wanting to crush the spirits of the cast. There is some logic behind it that you will learn from those mistakes and are less likely to do them during the actual run, but no actor wishes for a bad dress rehearsal.

One Or Two Candles Are Fine… Just Don’t Light The Third

This is a rather odd one that its origins are slightly unknown. The idea behind it is that you should never light three candles at the same time in a theatre. It seems a weird number to pick, but it’s the number. We aren’t sure if four candles are acceptable, but three means that disaster will occur. There is an argument that theatres were quite flammable in the earlier days, so limiting the number of candles (the only light source pre-electricity), would be a safer practice. All being said, just keep the fire to just a couple of candles.

Make Sure You Leave The Ghost Light On

Theatres are very common ground for ghosts, or at least that’s what most theatre’s claim. The ghost light is a light that is turned on centre stage and is either for the purpose of warding off the theatre ghosts, or for the purpose of giving them somewhere to perform in… We aren’t really sure who to believe on this topic. In good news it does mean that when you enter a dark theatre, you can see all of the potential hazards such as open pits, furniture, props etc… Just make sure you choose a cheap light to run!

Put Your Best Foot Forward

Another sailor themed superstition is about how you enter and leave a room. Sailors always believed that in order to have a good voyage you needed to step foot on the ship with your right foot. This was then translated into theatre as needing to step out of the dressing room always with a specific foot. Weirdly they chose the opposite foot, supposedly because the heart is on the left. If you step out of your dressing room with your right foot it is apparently going to curse the show. This is also meant to be repeated for stepping onto the stage, but in our opinion that’s just a lot more things to think about!

Don’t Say The Scottish Play!

The final one is one of the most feared superstitions in theatre, one everyone has heard of… don’t say the name of the Scottish tragedy. It’s even referenced in Hamilton, “I trust you'll understand the reference to another Scottish tragedy, without my having to name the play” Ironically, four words later he then mentions it, but the point is there. The show is historically cursed, with productions having been struck with illness, disaster and death. According to the RSC there is a counter to it, but it does seem excessive: “If you do accidentally utter the name, you can counteract it by going outside, running around the theatre three times, maybe even spitting on the ground, and then knocking to be let back in.” We just suggest you don’t say the name…

There are just some of the many superstitions that people in theatre face and these don’t even cover the personal ones that people have… It is safe to say theatre people are quite paranoid, but that’s probably because of all the stress they are under to entertain paying audiences.