If you know Blackadder series,
in season 3, there were two actors teaching George, and whenever Blackadder mentions Macbeth, they have to perform a
"hot potato,
***something*** drawers,
pluck to make admends" patty cake thingy.

So..... what's wrong with Macbeth, among actors at least?

edit, i know macbeth is Shakespeare's.

[ July 26, 2006, 02:45: Message edited by: teekc ]

"The Scottish Play" is said to be cursed with bad luck and accidents plaguing those who perform it. Some of the more superstitious actors refuse to even call it by name in fear of the curse which is where calling it "The Scottish Play" comes from.

Yeah, I'd heard that you're not supposed to mention the play by name on stage - EVER. You call it "the Scottish play". And the cursed history sounds plausible for such a superstition.

That's probably what those two are on about - the characters themselves wouldn't happen to be actors by any chance?

And wasn't Blackadder3 set in Elizabethean times? When that hot new playwright Will somethingorother was rocking the known world with his 'pimpin stories' ;) and any misfortune, accident or death relating to one of his productions be the big scandal on everyone's lips?

"actors" are stage actors in the episode.
George is prince George. Blackadder 3 was set in prince regent's time.

The "Scottish" or "Bard's" play as it's known amongst the acting fraternity has been plagued by problems from the very start. During one of its first performances the prop daggers were mistakenly replaced with real ones, as a result an actor died.

It has more fight scenes than any other Shakespeare play and thus is also more prone to injuries, accidents etc. It is also believed by some to be cursed because of the witches and Hecate who appear in the whole play.

Calling the play MacBeth whilst in anopther play or production has supposedly brought bad luck to that production as well.