Monthly Archives: May 2025

No Whistling in Theatre Spaces

Folk Belief / Superstition
Occupational Folklore – Theatre / Behavioral Taboo

1. Text

JP, a theatre major at American University, described a well-established superstition within theatrical environments: the belief that whistling inside a theatre invites bad luck or misfortune. According to JP, this is not merely a stylistic or aesthetic preference, but a behavioral taboo actively enforced in rehearsal and backstage settings, especially backstage. “You might be whistling without thinking, and someone will stop you immediately,” she noted. “People treat it as disruptive, even dangerous,” JP noted that she can’t whistle either way, but believes the superstition is a little dramatic.

JP recounted watching someone in her college program reprimanded for whistling during her first year in university theatre. “I didn’t know it was a problem. This girl was humming and then started to whistle backstage during tech week, and someone cut him off — not angrily, but urgently. They told her, ‘That’s something we don’t do here.’ I laughed. I thought it was so crazy and comical, but the girl who whistled had the biggest look of shame.”

Although JP does not personally attribute supernatural consequences to the act of whistling, she adheres to the custom out of respect for the collective understanding. “I don’t believe something bad will happen, but I know it’s part of the culture. You don’t want to violate the space or distract people, especially when the stakes are high. Additionally, I don’t want conflict with other people, so even if I could whistle, I still would not.”

2. Context

JP learned this superstition informally during her early involvement in university theatre. The belief was not introduced through any institutional channel or training, but rather through peer correction, a method common in the transmission of occupational folklore. The reprimand she saw another student experience served as an entry point into the implicit behavioral norms that govern theatrical spaces — rules which are often unspoken but widely upheld. Additionally, her unfamiliarity with the superstition prior to entering this particular theatre context highlights the localized nature of folklore transmission and how such beliefs can vary significantly across different performance communities.

The belief in the danger of whistling in a theatre is historically grounded. JP informed me that in the 19th and early 20th centuries, stage riggers — many of whom had maritime backgrounds — used a system of coded whistles to signal cue changes for scenery, rigging, and fly systems. An unintentional whistle could therefore result in mistimed or hazardous movements backstage. While modern stagecraft no longer relies on such signaling systems, the associated taboo persists as a form of cultural residue, maintained more for its symbolic weight than its practical relevance.

JP explained that even though the original rationale is no longer operational, the custom remains widespread and now it has now become a very looming superstition. “People treat it as disrespectful,” she said. “It’s not just about the sound. It’s about what it implies — that you’re not actively engaged and focused in the way you should be.” As such, the act of whistling violates more than etiquette; it breaches a collectively upheld boundary of theatrical conduct.

3. Interpretation

The prohibition against whistling in a theatre functions as a behavioral taboo within the occupational folk group of stage performers and technicians. Its persistence, despite the disappearance of its original practical necessity, is a testament to the role of tradition as a mechanism of cultural continuity. In this context, the act of whistling is not inherently harmful, but it becomes symbolically charged within a space where control, precision, and attentiveness are paramount.

From a folkloristic perspective, this taboo aligns with other examples of ritual avoidance behavior — prohibitions enacted not because of empirical risk, but because of their perceived symbolic danger. The theatre, as a liminal space in which transformation and performance occur, is often surrounded by customs that reinforce spatial and emotional boundaries. Whistling, an unsolicited and uncontrolled auditory act, is viewed as an intrusion upon the ritual environment of rehearsal or performance.

Moreover, the belief plays a significant role in group boundary maintenance. Through mechanisms of correction and social enforcement, practitioners reaffirm their identity as members of a professional tradition. The act of stopping someone from whistling, particularly a novice, is both a disciplinary and didactic act: it reasserts collective values while initiating the newcomer into the shared culture of theatrical practice.

Even among those who do not interpret the act superstitiously, the continued observance of the rule suggests a broader understanding of folklore’s functional value. Customs such as this one provide structure and coherence within an otherwise unpredictable environment. The taboo against whistling operates not merely as a superstition but as a ritualized gesture of respect toward the space, the craft, and the community of practitioners who maintain it.

In sum, JP’s account illustrates how occupational folk groups preserve behavioral norms through informal transmission, even when the original rationale has been obscured or rendered obsolete. In doing so, these traditions help define the emotional architecture of performance spaces and maintain a shared sense of discipline, identity, and continuity.

Birthday Pushups

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Language: English

“In ROTC or Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, we had a tradition to, or I guess it’s kind of ritualistic. Um when it was someone’s birthday, we would in class, we would have to do our birthday pushups. So, we would have to, ou know, get down in push up position and then the leader in at the time would command us to basically begin push ups. And as you do the push ups they sing happy birthday. But they sing it really slow. And so even if you finish your push ups you have to stay in a plank position until they’re done singing it. And then you have to wait for the leader to let you come back up.”

Context: High school Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, on someone’s birthday.

Analysis: This tradition, as one of many life cycle traditions surrounding birthdays, plays on the idea of shared pain, similar to birthday spanks. The subject has to complete push ups and go through the ritual to prove themselves and be celebrated by the group as a whole. In this ROTC tradition, the object is not just pain but achievement. By completing the birthday pushups, the individual can show their increased athleticism and reassert their place in the group identity based on strength and discipline. By knowing everyone has to do the same when it is their birthday, the individual is more willing to complete their turn in good humor and recognize it not as a punishment, but as a way to bond with their peers and recognize the achievement of another year. 

Hummingbirds

Occupation: Student
Language: English

“One of the signs I look for every year is for a hummingbird. It’s really weird but I can’t consider it spring until I see a hummingbird. So, like, I haven’t seen a hummingbird this year yet. So, I don’t feel like it’s spring and it’s like April. It’s about to be May. So, I’m going to enter May and it’s not going to be spring yet.” 

Context: “It’s really weird but this kind of comes from I think my Nana. My Nana used to tell me that when you see a hummingbird, it means that it’s springtime. I feel like I always did this but I definitely started paying attention more after my nana passed away. Because I feel like it’s almost a sign from her I guess. Like how people believe in certain animals to represent their loved ones. Like I know popular ones are butterflies. Um but I look for hummingbirds. And my nana also passed away in the spring. So maybe that’s a part of it.”

Analysis: 

This seasonal sign is what marks the change of spring, not the date of the equinox, for this informant. I think it is especially important to note that they have not seen a hummingbird yet this year, making this year out of place and off rhythm for the informant. Much like the concept of Groundhog day, the idea of an animal being a sign of seasonal change is both related to the animals’ biological responses to weather and speaks to the individual on a deeper level regarding what spring signifies. The informant mentions the importance of the hummingbird increasing after the passing of her nana, potentially transforming this sign into a symbol of her nana’s rebirth alongside the natural world. As springtime is already associated heavily with rebirth and new life, the correlation between hummingbirds and the spirit of the informant’s nana is perhaps a natural extension of existing similar beliefs. 

DefCon Run

Nationality: American
Occupation: Computer Security
Language: English

“What we used to do is we would run one run- okay when the convention was on the strip, in the middle of the strip, like at Bally’s or Flamingo or that area, there would be a 5k run one day to the north, one day to the west, one day to the east, and one day to the south. The problem is over time it got too large and we couldn’t run as one large group, and the location of the convention went to the convention center, so we’re no longer on the strip. But we still meet in the morning Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday outside the convention center. And then we just get into groups and do different runs. Mainly based on how far you want to run and how fast you are, so if you want to just run back to your hotel you can.  It has grown beyond that, so we try to get together one night at a restaurant and just mingle. So its grown beyond the running in the last few years, I guess. I bump into some of the runners at the conference and we say hi.And we’ve been getting more and more swag over the years, one year they had bandanas, now we have official runners’ bibs- one year they did prime numbers but I don’t think there’s any pattern now. We’ve also had unofficial renewals of wedding vows because the guy organizing it is the guy running some online church that he got a certificate for.”

    Context: “The DefCon run is not officially sanctioned by DefCon. It started where a few people that were involved with Defcon wanted to have a run in the morning and run with people. It was pretty unstructured but it actually grew over time. We tried getting it as a sanctioned event but they were concerned about liability and that Defcon can’t support it. So we’re doing it unofficially without Defcon knowing. We even have a giant flag with a rabbit with Defcon inside of the rabbit. So even though we aren’t official, we try to sneak in Defcon. In the early days, we started with maybe 30. When it got to 100, that’s when we tried to get official status. It’s probably more than 140 now.”

    Analysis: This run, unofficially affiliated with the hacking conference known as Defcon, held in Las Vegas annually in August, is a renewal and formation of social bonds to the informant. He is able to meet new people and run with many of the same people who were participants years ago, when the run was smaller. These acquaintances last into the conference, where they are more likely to be familiar with people in different talks and speaker events. Because the run is several days, as is the conference, the bond is able to be deepened over the course of the four runs, as is explored by the informant’s mention of dinner becoming a part of the celebration. 

    In addition, the structure of the run itself is interesting. Four runs in the four cardinal directions may speak to the natural and athletic search runners are on, especially in a metropolitan area such as Las Vegas. It allows the runners to explore the area and ground themselves within the context of the city as a geographical location, especially considering the rest of the day will be spent inside a conference center and isolated from the outside. The growth of this run speaks to the larger desire to both seek community during the conference and maintain a larger community that they can reliably expect to rejoin year after year, running the same paths and using this tradition as the start to their day.

    Rouladen

    Age: 60
    Occupation: Computer Security
    Language: English

     “Oma used to make Rouladen So it’s beef that’s hammered really thin and then inside of that you wrap bacon, pickles, mustard, and then I’m not sure if its soaked in wine or not. It might just be a gravy. And then its rolled up. And when it’s served, its served in gravy. And its really good if you like the ingredients. It’s a really soft meat when its cooked. And we would serve it with red cabbage, also with wine. And you’d usually have mashed potatoes with it too. Oh, and you could have optional dumplings instead of the mashed potatoes. Or I think we’d have it with dumplings and mashed potatoes. But that was more up in Canada at my grandmother’s house.

    Context: “It might be for someone’s birthday, like if it was Opa’s birthday he might get Rue Laden. Or sometimes for holidays like Christmas, we’d have it instead of turkey or something. You will see German restaurants make it too, but not as good as Oma because she uses the right wine.   Also sometimes when Opa would say we hadn’t had it in a while, or when we had visitors over. It was a special dish”

     Informant describes this as a uniquely German dish.

    Analysis: Although this dish is not extremely limited in its preparation, being made multiple times a year, the informant still regards it as a special meal reserved for celebrations and times outside the normal day to day. These can be life-cycle events like birthdays, or seasonal occasions such as certain holidays, but they are all significant in that they seem to call the family closer together. The role of the chef, the informant’s mother, is of incredible importance to the informant as her version surpasses restaurant offerings and is more ‘authentic’. The familial element and process of cooking this dish seems just as important as eating it. Furthermore, the informant seems to derive national identity from this dish. Having emigrated from Canada to the US and his father having emigrated from Germany, the informant feels this dish is representative of his heritage and that it relates him back to Germany even though he does not live there.