So, yesterday I wore my new trainers to work. As I walked along Royal Parade I looked down at them and had that childish moment of glee that only comes from a ‘new-shoes-day’. It was slightly dampened, however, by that fact that when I got into the theatre, and began my journey to the office along the green-linoleum floors, I realised that they were REALLY squeaky.
Passing a man I didn’t recognise, I looked up, almost in apology of my musical shoes that actually sounded more like a well-used dog toy. The man, from one of the visiting companies I presumed, stopped in horror and said;
“You’re not an actor are you?!”
“No,” I replied “I work in marketing.”
“Good,” his relief was quite apparent as he carried on past me “squeaky shoes are a very bad omen.”
I’d heard that theatre-folk are a superstitious bunch, but beyond never saying “Good Luck” to an actor before a performance, I wasn’t really aware of anymore uniquely thespian notions. Curious, I asked around:
Never whistle backstage – apparently because original stage crews were often hired from ships in port. On the ships rigs, sailors used coded whistles to communicate and the same codes were adopted when they undertook theatrical rigging. Any other whistling backstage may cause confusion during scene changes.
Never say ‘Macbeth’ backstage – it must be referred to as ‘The Scottish Play’. There are many rumours surrounding this; that the play is cursed, its text contains witchcraft or because historically the actor playing Macbeth would die shortly after his first performance. Should an actor say Macbeth in a theatre, it’s said that they should leave the building, turn around three times and spit before being permitted back inside.
Wearing peacock feathers is considered unlucky – they are supposed to represent an all-seeing evil eye that can curse the show. (I guess someone forgot to tell Ceri Dupree about that before she appeared onstage in the pantomime in all her feather clad glory!)
Wearing blue is unlucky unless accompanied by silver – blue dye used to be very expensive and often failing theatre companies would dye their clothes blue to make them appear wealthier. The silver that countered it was proof of a successful company who could afford silver.
The Ghost Light – it is said that if a theatre is left entirely in darkness overnight it will be taken over by a ghost, perhaps ghosts of actors passed, returning to relive their glory onstage. I did ask Jill, one of our Front of House Managers, whether at the we Theatre Royal Plymouth we leave a ghost light on.
“Aside from the stick I’d get for wasting electricity, no. When I learnt how to lock up the building nobody asked me to leave a ‘light on for the ghost’! Thank goodness!”
As for the squeaky shoes – no one else had heard of that superstition. I looked it up online and amongst countless others, discovered that some say it’s very good luck for an actor to make his or her first entry in squeaky shoes. So, who knows?!
With the origins of theatre in folklore and mythology it’s not really surprising that the lines between drama and real life blur sometimes. It’s a superstitious industry indeed.
Backstage at the Theatre Royal Plymouth 