00:04In 1606, William Shakespeare wrote the tragedy known as Macbeth, a story of
00:10ambition, murder, and madness. It is legend that the famous writer used real
00:16spells and incantations, spoken by the weird sisters he'd learned from
00:21researching witchcraft. According to folklore, a coven of witches upset by
00:26this cursed the play. It is said that on its first performance, the young actor
00:31cast to play Lady Macbeth suddenly died, and that Will himself had to go on in his
00:37place. Other stories include prop daggers being swapped out for real ones, which led
00:43to several accidental deaths on stage, theaters burning down, mysterious illness.
00:49In 1849, the Astor Place riot occurred in New York due to a rivalry between two
00:56popular actors playing Macbeth in two competing productions. The riot led to 30
01:02deaths and over 100 injuries. In 1937, Sir Lawrence Olivier was nearly killed by a
01:09weight which fell from above the stage. Eleven years later, actress Diana
01:15Winniard fell from the stage, plunging 15 feet into the orchestra pit below while
01:21playing Lady Macbeth. Diana had told a reporter the night before that the curse of
01:26Macbeth was, quote, ridiculous. Due to these legends and stories, to this day, theater folk
01:34refuse, outside of performance, to speak the name Macbeth within the walls of the theater.
01:40However, the curse, to most, is very real.
01:46Curse.
01:49Give me a break.
01:52Macbeth.
01:53Goll of goat and slip of you, slivered in
02:00slope clips, nose of Turk and Tartar slips, for the ingredients of our cauldron. Double, double,
02:16toil, trouble, fire, burn, and cauldron.
02:23Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
