Theatre Superstitions to Keep You on Your Toes This October

October is the perfect month to talk about the mysterious, the spine-tingling, and the downright bizarre… and theatre is full of superstitions that have been passed down through centuries of performers.

Whether you believe in them or not, these traditions add a little extra drama behind the curtain.

Here are five of our favorite theater superstitions to tingle your spine.

The Ever-Burning Ghost Light

Ever noticed that one lonely bulb left glowing on stage after everyone’s gone home? That’s the ghost light.

Practical reason: it keeps people from tripping in the dark.

Superstitious reason: it wards off mischievous spirits that supposedly haunt theatres. Some say the light even gives restless ghosts a chance to perform so they don’t sabotage your show.

The Scottish Play (a.k.a. Don’t Say It!)

Actors are famously superstitious about Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Utter its name inside a theatre and you’re practically begging for disaster: dropped props, forgotten lines, sudden illness, you name it.

Instead, it’s “The Scottish Play.” And if you do slip up? Tradition requires a dramatic ritual—spinning in place, spitting, or reciting lines from Hamlet—to banish the curse.

Whistling in the Wings

Think your showtune warm-up is harmless? Not backstage!

In the early days, stagehands often came from sailing ships and used whistling as a form of coded communication. A stray whistle could accidentally cue a sandbag—or worse—to come crashing down.

Safer bet: save your scales for the dressing room.

Break a Leg (But Please Don’t)

Instead of wishing performers “good luck,” we say “break a leg.” The phrase might have roots in bowing, when “breaking” the line of your leg meant you’d made it on stage.

Or maybe it comes from the hope that you’ll perform so well the audience will stomp their legs in applause.

Either way, it beats the alternative of saying the “L-word” before curtain!

Flowers—But Not Too Early

Want to gift your favorite actor flowers? Tradition says you should wait until after the final curtain.

Bringing flowers before the performance tempts fate as if assuming the show will be a success before it even happens. Patience, dear friends, patience.

Do You Believe?

Are these superstitions time-honored traditions, or just theatrical tall tales? Either way, they remind us that the theatre isn’t just about lights and lines—it’s a place where history, imagination, and maybe a few restless spirits mingle.

This October, when you take your seat at Theatre Huntsville, keep an eye out for the glowing ghost light or a hushed actor avoiding Macb— (whoops, almost said it!). Some traditions never die… and that’s half the fun.