Throughout history, actors have considered Macbeth to be a cursed play. It is taboo even to mention the play’s title inside of a theater. Actors call it The Scottish Play and refer to the lead characters as the Mac-ers, Lady M, and other nicknames. If an actor accidentally mentions the name Macbeth they are expected leave the theater, spit three times, spin three times while cursing, and then ask permission to return to the theater.

Notable instances of bad luck and disaster during performances of The Scottish Play include:

1607 During the first performance, Shakespeare himself supposedly played Lady Macbeth when the boy designated to play her became inexplicably feverish and died.

The play so displeased King James I that he banned it for five years.

1672 The actor playing Macbeth in a production in Amsterdam substituted a real dagger for the blunted stage one and with it killed Duncan in full view of the entranced audience.

1775 As Lady Macbeth, Sarah Siddons was nearly ravaged by a disapproving audience.

1953 Charlton Heston, in a production in Bermuda, suffered burns to his groin and thighs when his tights, which had been soaked in kerosene, burst into flames.