Tag Archives: theatre

Hamlet-inspired Theatre Ritual

Nationality: American

Age: 22

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Orange County, CA, USA

Date: 4/30/2025

Language: English

Description

This is one that I used to do in high school theater. We’d do it before every show as part of our warm-ups, and it was like one like we don’t do the full…I don’t do the full warm-up anymore, but I will always do this portion, because I think it just like helps me kind of get in the mindset and the work that I’m about to do (on stage). So, we were in high school theater, we do all these warm-ups, and we do all these, like, kind of funky, like tongue twisters with a beat, but it was kind of fun. And, you know, got everyone kind of in the mood to work. And then at the end of it, our director would have us, you know, close our eyes and kind of feel the ground beneath your feet. And feel the space around you and all that. And she’d have you just kind of…center yourself, and I feel like it’s very like it’s very yoga, meditative. And so…now I do this on my own. It’s more self-led, but, basically it’s like the final, quote-unquote, tongue twister that you would do, but it comes from…I think it comes from Hamlet. Let me look it up and make sure. So Hamlet in Shakespeare, it says “speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounc’d it to you, trippingly on the tongue.” the speech. And he’s talking to, like the first player. Yeah, I don’t know exactly what happens with Hamlet, [so] I didn’t know that that was from a play. I thought it was just something that she created. And when we do this, she’d have us just kind of first…say it and just say it and then say it and really hear the words. And then you say it as your character, and whatever. 

Subject’s Opinion:

Subject: And I think over the years in that program it had transformed from a tongue-twister to something that I actually really stood by as a performer, which is why I still use it. Because I think it the way that I take it is speak the speech, which is obviously like…honor your text. I pray as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue, and it it almost feels like it’s like a higher power pushing you forward or compelling you to speak. And I feel like that’s a lot of what performance is. You’re just kind of trusting the work that you’ve done, and the preparation, for you to just go and then be prepared and also to honor the story and to serve the writer and to serve the character and to serve the audience. I don’t know, and I always say that and I’ll always stand there in the back with my eyes closed right before I go on stage or sometimes in warm-ups. Now, if I’m leading them, I’ll always help everyone do that and just kind of appreciate the work that I’m about to do and the possibility of it and the unknown. And I’ll always say it because I just think it’s really, I don’t know, it’s just kind of endearing. Interviewer: How should I put this? Let me think about how should I ask this question? Do you think… because it’s from an author text which in it by itself isn’t folklore. But [what] do you think [about] the new life that it took on as a part of the heritage, and as part of the…that ritual. How does that help you? 

Subject: I think what’s funny is that when I first started using that, I didn’t know it was from something, so I didn’t like have the predisposed notion that I was just reciting a Hamlet line. Instead, it felt like it was something larger than myself, like larger than the company. Because it felt so ethereal. So, I think, like? When you’re taking things from works, when you’re taking something from something as well known as Hamlet, but you’re still trying to make it your own, you’re weaving so much of your own personal experience for the personal nature behind why whoever created that Mantra or whatever created it or took that line specifically and used that. And I just think that, like, within that program when I was in high school, part of it was understanding how to not be selfish in your work. And I think using that line, like, using that text was kind of a way to bring it up forth and also just honor yourself as an honest artist and like, I don’t know, like, keep moving. So, when I think about it now, I don’t think about the fact that it’s a Hamlet line. Because for me, it, it’s separated from that completely. It has nothing to do with Hamlet. It is everything to do with what that experience was in high school, and what that professor did before with students before me, and it was something that she had done for years and years and years, and I was just another batch of students who came to learn that and came to appreciate that, you know. 

Analysis: 

The most fascinating part of this collection is the folkloric nature the authored text took on after generations of repurposing. As the subject put it, though she understands that it’s from Shakespeare’s text, she never associates it in its original context, and instead upholds the oral tradition of the ritual and attends to the source of how she knew it instead of what she knows it is from. She also highlighted the fact that rational knowledge of it being from Hamlet is always overshadowed by the memories and emotions that are brought up when the words are uttered, which points to the adaptive, dynamic, and affective nature of a piece of oral folklore such as this one. 

The “Shit Damn Motherfucker Motherfucker Damn” Ritual

Nationality: American

Age: 21

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Mason, OH, USA

Date: 4/29/2025

Language: English

Description

This is a a theater ritual that the people at USC do. And there are different variations of this at other schools, but there’s one very specifically that USC does which I really, really like. It’s [done] before a theater performance. Everyone gets together in a circle. Every actor gets in a circle. And you start really low and very quiet. And you say: “shit damn motherfucker motherfucker, damn! This dumb bitch just stole my man. Gotta find another fucker better than the other fucker, shit damn motherfucker motherfucker damn!” You do it four times, and you get louder and you get higher off the ground until you’re like jumping and screaming. And after that, it’s, like, okay, let’s go. And everyone goes back to their dressing rooms, gets focused, and begin the show. That’s the ritual. 

Subject’s Opinion: 

Interviewer: Do you know where that came from? 

Subject: I don’t know at all where it came from, but I know at other schools, there are variations of this. So I assume that it came from some sort of like, bigger, more professional thing, and then people sort of took from that, like took their own versions from that. From that original typical folklore. 

Interviewer: Why do you you think it’s such a significant thing that’s done here? 

Subject: Well, I think there’s multiple things. I think one people just love saying swear words. And, and also before a performance, you have to get very, like, energized. You have to be very active, even if you’re playing a very inactive and unenergized character. You, as the person who’s playing that character, need to be sort of heightened. Um. And there’s something about the consonants as well…shit damn motherfucker motherfucker, damn. Like the consonants of that are very activating. Um, and also just the community bonding aspect. We’re all like having fun. We’re all like… it’s silly. It’s ridiculous. You can’t take it seriously at all. Like, you cannot take that exercise seriously and getting yourself into that sort of like heightened, heart-beating state, and then having to take it down to like a performance, and having to have all that energy inside of you while you’re like…rocking it with whatever you’re doing. 

Analysis

As an active participant of the theatre community, I’ve seen the ritual performed many times, and can attest to the strong impression it leaves on anyone seeing it done for the first time. Witnessing or taking part in it being performed is a rite of passage for all theatre-makers at USC, as it means you’ve completed a show ready for performance, marking an important moment not only for the actors, but the people behind the scenes. And as one’s theatre career unfolds at USC, they will see this ritual done again and again, each time more meaningful than the previous, as it is symbolic of the camaraderie and pains and joys of telling a meaningful story together.

BREAK A LEG!

Nationality: American

Age: 20

Occupation: Student 

Residence: San Diego, CA, USA

Date: 02/20/2025 

Primary Language: English

Language: English

Description: 

“I thought this was common knowledge, but apparently it’s not in theater. You’re not supposed to say “good luck”. You’re supposed to say, “Break a leg”, uh, apparently saying, good luck is bad luck. Actually, I don’t remember why that is, but I know why you’re supposed to say, break a leg. I was told that in the old days, there was a piece called the leg that held up the curtain. And if in the olden days if it was too fragile, or if you were too loud, you would…you could actually break the leg and the curtain would come down. And so if you were to nail it, you would be so good that the curtain would come down. So, that’s why people say, break a leg.”

Subject’s opinion: 

Interviewer: Can you talk about how you you might have used it in your personal experiences? 

Subject: Yeah, I, I tell my friends break a leg all the time, even if it’s not in a theater related context. If someone ever says good luck to me before I go on stage, I correct them, because I do not want that bad juju. 

Interviewer: What would you say to me, exactly, if I said good luck to you before you go on stage? 

Subject: I’d say…actually, I probably wouldn’t say anything, but it would bother me. It would actually bother me, and I’d go on stage and be thinking about it. It’d mess me up. 

Analysis: 

A student actor himself, the subject expressed surprise regarding how little people knew of the origin of “break a leg.” Many in the theatre space take the phrase for granted, but few investigate the spirit from which it originated. In fact, most have made their own speculations, drawing links to origin stories that involve the literal breaking of legs—sometimes even monogenic—rather than acknowledging the phrase’s roots in stage logistics. It’s interesting to consider how the oral history of the phrase shifted in this case. “Break a leg” is a visceral image; the opposite of what a performer would want. Once its supposed original reference to the legs of a curtain became more obscure, the phrase’s intensity and ironic appeal may have been a key factor in its longevity. Perhaps if the context was understood more widely, the phrase wouldn’t have the same popularity. 

Theatre Pre-Performance Ritual for RENT

Main Piece

“[This ritual] is very common: the whole team tapping a sign before a game. In RENT, we have a plaque hand-carved by Jonathan Larson’s uncle that he carved when he died that his sister gave us. She came in and talked to our cast, and her and his college roommates gave us this plaque for the duration of our show. And it’s this big hand-carved plaque that says “Thank you, Jonathan Larson” on it. It’s hung up backstage, and after our group circle, we all have to go up to it one by one [before every performance] and like, place our hands on it and thank him before we go onstage to perform…Really simple, but we all do it and constantly remind each other of it and it’s really important to our cast.

Some of us like, if we’re feeling especially emotional, will literally sit in front of it and cry. I’m so serious, I’ve done that, ’cause Jonathan Larson is really important to me.”

Interpretation

Informant Interpretation: Informant related ritual to common sports team rituals of tapping a specific sign for luck or protection before a game. They also mentioned that the pre-RENT performance tapping of the sign was a means of “community building” and enabled cast members to “ground themselves” and “remind themselves about why they’re doing this piece of art.”

Personal Interpretation: This is clearly an important tradition to the informant and their cast, furthered by the subject matter of RENT (queer people living in NYC during the HIV/AIDS crisis) and fact that its creator, Jonathan Larson, died one day before the musical’s original opening in 1996. The sign is a physicalized reminder of the humanity and weight the show carries, and gives the cast members a material way to remember the real people it’s grounded in before going onstage. To me, it sounds like tapping this sign is a ritualized remembrance of the responsibility to tell and represent an important, nuanced story to the audience, and for the cast to honor the people around them–cast, crew, relatives, friends, and more–as well as the source of the art they’re bringing into the light.

Background

Informant is a 21 year old college student studying theatre at USC. The performance of RENT mentioned happened this semester, with rehearsals running January-April and performances in April. It was put on by the USC School of Dramatic Arts–informant performed in the ensemble for all performances. Informant is mixed race (white and Pacific Islander), and identifies as queer and fem-presenting.

Theater Macbeth Superstition

Text

“Ok so I’ve been doing theater since I was a little kid. And I remember the first time I heard of this superstition, I was like, 7 I think. I was in my first musical and someone started talking about the M word. And I was like, “what’s the M word?” And they refused to tell me and I didn’t know why, and I thought they were like, talking about McDonalds or something. Cause we were backstage in the dressing room of the theater. So they tell me it’s a word we can’t say in the theater because it’s cursed and will make the play go bad, and that someone said it last year during the music and an actress fell of the stage and broke her leg. And when we get outside the theater when we leave, they tell me the word is Macbeth. And from then on I knew you weren’t supposed to say it. I was in a theater camp a few years later and I remember our teacher taught us about the curse. And one of the kids actually said Macbeth, and we all got so mad, and our teacher actually made him go outside to reverse it. He had to go outside the theater, spit over his left shoulder, and turn around three times. We all like followed him outside to watch him do it. Then I remember when I was in middle school I was in the musical, and someone said it. And we swear that’s why any mistake in the show happened. Like one of our lead actors was sick during the show, and we said it was because someone said the cursed word, we call it the Scottish Play while in the theater. So it’s a big superstition in theater, everyone knows about it. I feel like it became less important when I got older, but I still like actually believe in it. I’m not super superstitious or anything, but that’s the one that I’m really serious about. I don’t tell stories about it as much anymore, it’s not as sensational anymore, but I’m dead serious when people threaten to say it during a musical. I fully will not say it in a theater, even if it’s stupid. It’s kind of like a badge of being a real theater actor, like you’re really one of us because you won’t say it.” 

Context

B is an 18-year-old college student who lives in the Bay Area in California. She has been doing theater for almost all her life, and still considers it a big part of her identity. She relays the superstition with a bit of conflict, because while she sometimes thinks it’s a little silly and doesn’t really believe a single word can be cursed in a certain location, she still reveres the superstition and won’t actually say it. This is a theater superstition that has been around for a long time, and she’s heard it in theaters across many states in the US. 

Analysis

This is a magic superstition, where the belief is that if you do a particular thing, it will lead to bad luck. It is also combined with a conversion superstition, with the description of the actions that must be done to get rid of the bad luck. Superstitions like these are common in careers like theater, because live theater has so many elements that are out of people’s control. Once the show has begun, anything could go wrong and the actors have no way to control it. They could blank on a line, there could be a tech malfunction, there is a lot of anxiety surrounding life theater no matter how well they prepare. This means that there are a lot of superstitions, because it gives people an illusion of control that could act as a placebo effect. They can think “This show will go great, no one has said the Scottish Play yet!” It’s also an example of cognitive dissonance. When things go wrong in live theater and people don’t really know why, they like to have something to blame to give an explanation to the unexplainable. “Why did I forget the line I’ve had memorized and perfect for weeks? Oh, because someone said Macbeth!” This superstition is also a form of ritual that creates identity, like in Van Genup’s Rites of Passage. When she was in her first musical, she wasn’t really part of the group because she didn’t know the superstition about Macbeth. Now that she’s older and more experienced, she takes it as a sign of her identity. She underwent the rite of passage of learning about the Macbeth superstition, so now it creates her identity as a thespian. Her maintained belief in the superstition shows how even when things aren’t necessarily scientific, people can still believe them despite their rational mind telling them it doesn’t make sense. Belief works even against rationality. And just because it hasn’t been scientifically proven doesn’t mean the superstition isn’t true. Maybe there is a correlation between someone say Macbeth and a show going wrong.