The Significance of Superstition:
Creating Community in the Theatre and Beyond
by Ilan Hernandez

Good luck, bad luck, curses, ghosts, prosperity, and acclaim all reside in one place: the actor’s reality.
Indeed, many people would be quick to dismiss these phenomena as the farthest thing from reality; however, any member of the theatre community can relate countless tales of backstage disasters, supernatural sensations, and miraculous occurrences. The common denominator is superstition. Theatre has many well-known superstitions that constitute a deeply rooted cultural element in this community and have stood the test of time going back to their unique origins in history and folklore. These superstitions not only make up a compelling part of the theatre community’s identity but also unify the people within it.
Their common purpose to create magic on the stage obligates each member of the theatre community to act in unison, to share the same beliefs, to protect each other, and to strive for the same success. Superstition establishes this commonality.
If theatre goers stopped to think about it, many of them might simply assume that the most successful actors accomplish everything purely through hard work and training.

However, research shows that superstitions are shown to have causal effect on the confidence and performance success of individuals, as well as promote a sense of community through shared rituals.
In order to understand why superstitions are such a prominent and longstanding custom in this community, it is important to explore the human psychology behind superstitious behavior and discover how it impacts the actions of the people who practice it. This discovery will have significant applications in understanding how superstitions make everyone in theater arts more relatable as well as in understanding how they thrive as a community. Theatre superstitions matter because they are a vital part of the dazzling performance every audience desires, while also serving to bond the theatre company together in a way that only their community can experience.
Superstitions have existed and persisted through all time periods, cultures, types or levels of society, and groups of people.

One can find mention of superstitions in ancient writings, legends and myths, historical documents, and in popular cultural representations like media, movies, and books across generations. For example, not opening an umbrella indoors dates back to Victorian England; not walking under a ladder comes from a 5,000 year old Egyptian belief; a broken mirror’s infliction of seven years of bad luck originated in ancient Greece; European peasants and ancient religious rites started us all knocking on wood; a sixth century Pope encouraged people to bless sneezes; and good luck horseshoes hail from Greek, Roman, British, and Christian cultures across the ages (Wolchover). According to psychology researchers, “superstitions are typically seen as inconsequential creations of irrational minds” (Damisch et al.). Nevertheless, the aforementioned examples and many others are considered legitimate superstitions by some people in today’s times, or at the very least they are commonplace habits done every day by people who would not label themselves superstitious. Notwithstanding, neither of these types of people would likely consider themselves “irrational” while knocking on wood or saying “God bless you” after a sneeze. According to a College of William and Mary theatre professor and author, “[f]or many of us, there’s a comfort in the ritual of superstition” (Catron).
This idea of ritualism and comfort may be the reason superstitions help to form a sense of community among common groups of people, like athletes or actors.

Athletes in all sports tend to have clothing that brings them good luck, such as lucky socks, and sports superstitions are not limited to clothing. According to Locker Room Mojo: True Tales of Superstitions in Sports, Jack Nickalaus carries three pennies with him when he plays golf, and Babe Ruth always touched first base with his foot on his way to the outfield (Newton and Minutaglio 11, 97). Without a doubt, superstition plays a role in the traditions or customs of individuals and communities of people with a common bond.

In the case of actors, superstition stems from longstanding history and tradition, and it bonds actors in a unique way. Actors, stage crews, and even serious patrons share in the practice of rituals, behaviors, and beliefs to bring good luck to the theatre or to approach a production with some common understanding. With all the various factors involved in the theatre, a plethora of superstitions have stood the test of time. According to one researcher in his book, The Psychology of Superstition, there is an emotional component to superstition that draws upon “a principle habit that stands upon awe and fear” (Jahoda 33). While this aspect of superstition is easily perceived in the theatre community’s emphasis on customs related to luck, psychology research regarding superstition also points to another perspective offered by Peterson on the impact of superstition on performance (305). This author suggests four forms of superstition that are each practiced or expressed differently but have all been linked to confidence and performance success. Peterson’s classifications for superstition-affected performance are:
(a) belief in unspecific bad consequences (walking under a ladder, crossing a black cat’s path, breaking a mirror, etc.);
(b) belief in unspecific good consequences (picking a four-leaf clover, touching a cricket’s leg, spilling sugar, etc.);
(c) engaging in protective rituals (spilling salt, knocking on wood, etc.); and
(d) belief in specific consequences (planting parsley for pregnancy, crossing knives for a quarrel, the itching of one’s palm to expect money, washing one’s car to cause rain, etc.). (305)
Peterson’s research was recently expanded by another team of psychology researchers who explored the “performance benefits of superstitions and (…) their underlying psychological mechanisms” (Damisch et al. 1014). Specifically, their experiments unveiled that “good-luck-related superstitions via a common saying or action (e.g., “break a leg,” keeping one’s fingers crossed) or a lucky charm improves subsequent performance” (1015). These researchers also connected their investigation and analysis to decades of research in the field of psychology on the topic of self-efficacy related to performance. Their research concluded that “Activating a superstition boosts participants’ confidence in mastering upcoming tasks, [and] increased task persistence constitutes one means by which self-efficacy, enhanced by superstition, improves performance” (1015). Peterson’s and Damisch et al’s research on superstitions and improved performance sheds light on the longstanding history of superstitions in the theatre world and offers legitimacy to a deeply ingrained aspect of this community.

To explore a sampling of theatre superstitions, Peterson’s four classifications will be used to organize the beliefs and rituals practiced in the community and their respective effects on the community members. First, belief in unspecific bad consequences is seen in theatre superstitions such as banning bibles and scripts on stage, avoiding yellow and green costumes, and never peeking through the curtain at the audience before a show. All of these superstitious beliefs are believed to ward off general bad luck for actors and crew members. Bibles on stage are believed to disrespect God, and scripts on stage imply that the actors are not adequately prepared (Wilson). Peeking through the curtain breaks the “wall” between the stage and the audience, which nullifies the performance (Gross). Green either interferes with spotlights or makes fairies perform mischief out of jealousy for attention, and “yellow is arbitrarily unlucky because it was the color that represented the devil in medieval plays” (Wilson). These precautions and many more help to ward off bad consequences in the theater.

Belief in unspecific good consequences keeps actors and crew members doing anything and everything possible to experience good luck and success in the theater. Wearing blue is thought to hold an audience member’s attention the best, while wearing squeaky shoes allows for perfect choreography (Wilson). The common actor’s greeting, “Skin off your nose,” conveys hope and optimism for future work, which would mean wearing more of the skin-damaging stage make-up that often takes the skin off an actor’s nose (Wilson).

A superstition that even casual theater goers would be familiar with is the iconic phrase, “Break a leg.”
Despite its multiple interpretations, the phrase essentially means “good luck,” but as most people know, those words should never be uttered in the theater or directly to an actor. Theatre folklore traces the earliest custom back to a medieval attempt to confuse evil spirits by essentially wishing an actor bad luck and causing the spirits to carry out the opposite fate (Catron). Other versions of this superstition involve the “leg,” a technical name for the stage curtain, hoping to be worn out or broken because of so many curtain calls demanded by an exuberant audience (Catron). Yet another origin points to the coins that used to be thrown onto the stage during the bows and applause. “If money was being thrown onstage in [the actors’] honor then they would need to bend their leg or break the upright position of their limb in order to scoop up their spoils, thus ‘breaking their legs’” (Gross). No less than five other interpretations exist in the research of this good luck saying, and dozens of other good fortune mantras exist in theater lingo.


Protective rituals abound in the theatre community, ensuring everything from warding off ghosts to guaranteeing a perfect opening night. When the theater goes dark for the evening, an interesting instrument is left illuminated on stage that is rarely found anywhere other than the theater. A slender pole with a single light bulb screwed in on the top is customarily left in the upstage center area or further towards the back and is the sole light in the darkness of the space. This light is called the “Ghost Light,” and it has a specific purpose for warding off the supernatural. Among these “bad luck spirits,” it is said that the ghost of the first actor, Thespis, haunts theaters around the world (Wright).

Two rituals certain to yield a perfect opening night performance are the “no last line” prohibition during final dress rehearsal and the actors’ energy/prayer circle prior to curtain time. Actors and directors are convinced that uttering the last line, or “tag line,” of the show during the final rehearsal will doom the opening night performance to fail (Wilson). Additionally, although it can be done in a variety of ways, actors always circle up a few minutes before the curtain goes up to focus, to build energy among them, or to pray to the theatre’s patron saints, St. Genesius and St. Vitrus, who were both third century martyrs often invoked to protect actors from calamity (Catron).
Finally, the belief in specific consequences can be best illustrated by the most iconic theatre superstition of them all: “that Scottish play.” One of the oldest and most documented superstitions throughout theatre history originates from a well-known Shakespeare work, the tragic tale of Macbeth.
The story chronicles the Scottish general’s murderous rise to the throne, his greedy and violent ways to maintain power, and his ultimate demise. After the first performance of the play was hit by tragedy, the theatre community has been cursed any time the word “Macbeth” is said inside a theater (Gross). According to enduring theatre lore, “the first instance of the curse was on the premiere, when the young boy playing Lady Macbeth died during the performance. Shakespeare himself was directing, and some believe that he had to replace the boy as Macbeth’s Lady” (Catron).
As a result, the custom of saying “that Scottish play” is always used in reference to Shakespeare’s play instead of the fateful M-word.
In fact, “long-time theatre workers can recite many legendary bad-luck events, so inexplicable that supernatural forces of evil must have caused them” (Catron). Not surprising, it is nearly impossible to find a serious member of the theatre community who does not strictly adhere to this superstition.

Ghost lights, squeaky shoes, code words, and common phrases serve to characterize and bond the members of the theatre community.
The beliefs and rituals common among actors and stagehands provide commonality, security, and a sense of belonging. At the same time, these superstitions also yield more confident actors and better performances. Social psychology research has helped to affirm this validation of the longstanding customs of superstitious behavior and beliefs in theatre that may seem like foolish nonsense or quirky behavior to people outside the community. In fact, this same research validates the superstitions of all communities and individuals in any activity or life circumstance wherein their confidence and self-efficacy can lead to success, whether it is an athletic performance, a job interview, or an everyday task. With this in mind, theatre patrons can gain a new appreciation for the incredible work they see on the stage by realizing that superstitions are just as important as training and preparation for the success of the cast and crew.
Without a doubt, “acting takes a kind of bravery not found in most professions. On a stage, the actor has one chance to succeed or fail, and either way will be witnessed by hundreds of people. This sort of gambling act breeds superstitions, because there is no way to guarantee a good performance beyond the confidence of the actor” (Wilson).

If the research about superstition is true, then major consequences follow for the success and confidence of any performer who adheres to some kind of superstitious notion. Here is to wishing for lots of “broken legs” for actors and non-actors alike!
Find out more about the actor’s experience & stories about theatre superstition! Check out “Insights from the Actor”:
