“The Scottish Play” is a euphemism for Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, which is used many actors when they don’t want to say the play’s name out of respect for the play’s superstitions. Saying the title of a play or quoting from it inside a theater is said to bring bad luck to the theater and the actors. The only exception to this rule is when a live performance of Macbeth is taking place, in which case actors must obviously quote from the play.
The theater community is well-versed in the superstitions surrounding the Scottish Play, but their origins are a little hazy. Although empirical analysis does not appear to suggest that Macbeth is any more dangerous to perform than any other play, it is said to be plagued accidents, deaths, and bad luck for theaters. Some have speculated that the witches in the play are actually casting real spells, or that real witches were offended the play’s content and cursed it. More pragmatic historians have suggested that the play’s large number of fight scenes puts people at risk of getting hurt.
Macbeth has also been used in the past struggling theater companies to attract audiences and make a season profitable. As a result, many theaters have failed in the past following a performance of the Scottish Play, but not because of the play. The decision to stage the play was merely a symptom of a larger problem.
Actors are notoriously superstitious, and beliefs about the Scottish Play are just one part of a complex web of superstitions that can be found in theaters big and small. If someone breaks the Macbeth rule, they are usually forced to perform a ritual to ward off the bad luck, such as leaving the room and knocking, turning around three times, spitting over the right shoulder, or quoting a line from another Shakespeare play.
Older actors frequently tell new and young actors about the Scottish Play’s horror stories, and many actors regard it as a rite of passage in the theater community. This euphemism, like other alternate names like “Macker’s” or “The MacScottish Play,” refers to the play’s Scottish setting. Other actors might simply call it “The Bard’s Play” or “that one play.” To avoid saying the M-word, Macbeth’s main character is referred to as “Mr. M,” and his wife is referred to as “Lady M.”