Scottish play
Unlucky Shakespeare tragedy
A theatrical euphemism for Shakespeare's *Macbeth*, used by actors and theater professionals who consider it bad luck to speak the play's actual name inside a theater.
The superstition holds that the play is cursed, and mentioning it invites disaster: We're doing the Scottish play this season.
Outside the theater, the taboo relaxes.
- double doubleTwo stats hitting ten
- DuncanScottish masculine given name
- tragic flawDefect causing protagonist's downfall
- witchesPractitioners of dark magic
- out damned spotGuilt-haunted cleansing lament
Banquo · Lady Macbeth · blood on hands · regicide · playwright · soliloquy · supernatural elements · the curse · ambition · hallucination · guilt · catharsis · tragic hero · murder · treachery · prophecy · hubris · paranoia
- ShakespeareRomeo, Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello
- MacbethMacbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Duncan, Macduff
- theater superstitionsbreak a leg, peacock feathers
Scottish playA Midsummer Night's Dream
The Tempest · The Comedy of Errors · Much Ado About Nothing · As You Like It · Twelfth Night
Scottish, Scot, Scots, Scotland, play, plays, played, playing, player