John Bell

Bell Shakespeare Company
1
No whistling backstage (because in the old days, the Stage Manager whistled as a signal to drop scenery in. If some idiot whistled, he might get a few tons of scenery dropped in on his head.

2
Never say "Macbeth" in the dressing room. Probably because the play is so dangerous (swords, daggers, fiery cauldrons, etc, that accidents usually occur and have earned the play the reputation of being "unlucky".

3
Never use green on stage – Origin unknown, but I do know a number of designers (Kim Carpenter for one) who refuse to use it.

4
The Princess Theatre in Melbourne has a famous ghost. The theatre’s restaurant is named after him. I am reliably informed that the Theatre Royal Hobart has a ghost as has His Majesty’s Perth. (They are possibly the ghosts of patrons who died of boredom or of critics who were, quite properly, strangled.)

5
Australian actors imitate their British counterparts by wishing them “Chookas” for good luck; even though they have no idea what it means.

To wish good luck by saying “Break a leg” makes more sense. In the old days, if a show was a great success, the Stage Manager would “break the legs”, ie fly out the black “legs” of side-curtains so that the whole cast could fit on stage for a curtain-call. (Hardly necessary in these economic-rationalist days of two-handers and one man shows.)

Jewish friends say “Break a leg” means “Break a leg because nothing else can stop you being a hit.”

A person you might contact is Graeme Blundell who is quite a collector of theatre yarns and folklore.

From Robyn Archer

I've just spoken to Robyn and told her about your request; she's flat
chat at the moment about to do a show at the Melbourne Festival,
however, your request made her smile.

There's an understanding amongst certain artists that the Hungarians
have a good luck/break a leg phrase that phonetically translates as "hot pussy" so, as you can imagine, "hot pussy kisses" tends to get
texted/sms-ed/e-mailed and hollered around Dr Archer whenever she hits the boards.

Robyn did advise that you check what the actual phrase is in Hungarian!
All best with the project,
Rachel
RICK RAFTOS MANAGEMENT

Maggie Scott

Some fellow actors of mine were on tour at Margate Theatre in Kent in the south of England and I went to see the show with my son George who was about 10 at the time. After we'd been backstage to congratulate the cast, George wandered off. He told me afterwards he'd been told off by a lady in a long skirt for being backstage. Weeks later I was watching a BBC TV programme about that theatre. Apparently it has a reputation for being haunted by a very bossy theatre manager from the last century. As her photo came up on the screen George came into the room. "Oh that's the lady I was telling you about, Mum", he said.

Gave me shivers anyway.

Melissa Bruce

Oh, there is a superstition one must never whistle in a theatre. There are a few historically debatable reasons for the myth. But it holds fast regardless. Worth investigating that one…I don’t have the data… I just didn’t whistle.

Also, there is a belief one is allowed to walk under a ladder in the theatre. I think it evolved because one absolutely cant avoid it with all the lighting and construction always going on

I had a haunted experience in a London theatre which I hope to jot down for you in a moments spare time if you are interested.

One must also never mention “Macbeth” in theatre, unless one is performing it. Its bad luck. They describe it as “the Scottish play”
(I worked in professional theatre for ten years in oz and London)

Sounds a great topic to investigate, ive never read anything about these, all heresay

Ps. Could be a good title…
“whistles in the theatre”
Whistling in the theatre…

And most theatres are supposed to have a cat.