Drastic Mac

[Birchy]

Can you shed any footlights on the origin of actors avoiding saying "Macbeth"? Instead referring to it as "The Scottish Play"? And did film actors avoid saying "McVicar", instead preferring "The rubbish Roger Daltrey film"?

[larabell]

I've heard two theories - the first was that old actors were paranoid of the witchery and violence in the play and considered the play to be bad luck. The more likely explanation is that when a theatre production wasn't doing well in ticket sales, the theatre manager would often switch to an old reliable standby that most actors already knew well - i.e. Macbeth. Hearing mention of "Macbeth" or haring someone rehearsing it would generally mean that the current production was in jeopardy.

[artisan]

Apparently many productions of Macbeth have been fraught with problems