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Theatrical History of Play

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AH!!! My head!!! It has an arrow in it but I'm still alive!!! AH!!! Look at me!!! I have arrows in my body and I'm still walking!!!

Good ol' History

Simon Forman recorded the earliest known performance of Macbeth in April 1611. Richard Burbage is thought to have created the title role. The English theatres were closed for 18 years under Puritan government, and after it reopened, William Davenant produced an adapted version of Macbeth in 1663 that altered the play greatly. He omitted or 'refined' many parts in the play, for example, "The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!" became "Now friend, what means this change of Countenance?"(woah there...don't think Shakespeare would have appreciated the change). Yet, despite changes, such as singers and dancers for the witches scene (that ruins the atmosphere!), Davenant's version was quite popular. It wasn't until 1744 that Daniel Garrick's production partially restored the orginial Macbeth. Another popular production in the 18th century was by Charles Macklin, who introduced the use of Scottish kilts and plaids. Samuel Phelp in 1847 was the first to omit Davenant's 'refined' setting and version.

Macbeth has remained extremely popular in modern times. In 1928, Barry Jackson's production was of a moder-dress version. 1936, the notorious 'voodoo' version by Orson Welles', featured Banquo's ghost as a giant mask, Hecate with a 12-foot whip, and an on-stage band of drummers with setting in 18-century Haiti. In 1981, a company from the University of Illinois adapted Macbeth in the Japanese kabuki style drama. But nothing beats Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood with a freaky Lady Macbeth with a Macbeth that does not die in the end despite dozens of arrow wounds and walks for a bit after getting shot in the neck! Macbeth has been made into a film 17 times, with first seven as silent. Also, five television productions have been braodcast, first in 1949.

My arm my arm!!! I thought we were only acting!!!

Curse of Play!

Many a strange events have occured around the play of Macbeth while it is performerd. Here are some fo the strange occurences:

In 1882, on the closing night of one production, an actor named J. H. Barnes was engaged in a scene of swordplay with an actor named William Rignold when Barnes accidentally thrust his sword directly into Rignold's chest. Fortunately a doctor was in attendance, but the wound was supposedly rather serious.
In 1926, Sybil Thorndike was almost strangled by an actor.
During the first modern-dress production at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1928, a large set fell down, injuring some members of the cast seriously, and a fire broke out in the dress circle.
In the early Thirties, theatrical grande dame Lillian Boylis took on the role of Lady Macbeth but died on the day of final dress rehearsal. Her portrait was hung in the theatre and some time later, when another production of the play was having its opening, the portrait fell from the wall.
In 1934, actor Malcolm Keen turned mute onstage, and his replacement, Alistair Sim, like Hal Berridge before him, developed a high fever and had to be hospitalized.
In 1936, when Orson Welles produced his "voodoo Macbeth," set in 19th-century Haiti, his cast included some African drummers and a genuine witch doctor who were not happy when critic Percy Hammond blasted the show. It is rumored that they placed a curse on him. Hammond died within a couple of weeks.
In 1937, a 30-year-old Laurence Olivier was rehearsing the play at the Old Vic when a 25-pound stage weight crashed down from the flies, missing him by inches. In addition, the director and the actress playing Lady Macduff were involved in a car accident on the way to the theatre, and the proprietor of the theatre died of a heart attack during the dress rehearsal.
In 1942, a production headed by John Gielgud suffered three deaths in the cast -- the actor playing Duncan and two of the actresses playing the Weird Sisters -- and the suicide of the costume and set designer.
In 1947, actor Harold Norman was stabbed in the swordfight that ends the play and died as a result of his wounds. His ghost is said to haunt the Colliseum Theatre in Oldham, where the fatal blow was struck. Supposedly, his spirit appears on Thursdays, the day he was killed.
In 1948, Diana Wynard was playing Lady Macbeth at Stratford and decided to play the sleepwalking scene with her eyes closed; on opening night, before a full audience, she walked right off the stage, falling 15 feet. Amazingly, she picked herself up and finished the show.
In 1953, Charlton Heston starred in an open-air production in Bermuda. On opening night, when the soldiers storming Macbeth's castle were to burn it to the ground onstage, the wind blew the smoke and flames into the audience, which ran away. Heston himself suffered severe burns in his groin and leg area from tights that were accidentally soaked in kerosene.
In 1955, Olivier was starring in the title role in a pioneering production at Stratford and during the big fight with Macduff almost blinded fellow actor Keith Michell.
In a production in St. Paul, Minnesota, the actor playing Macbeth dropped dead of heart failure during the first scene of Act III.
In 1988, the Broadway production starring Glenda Jackson and Christoper Plummer is supposed to have gone through three directors, five Macduffs, six cast changes, six stage managers, two set designers, two lighting designers, 26 bouts of flu, torn ligaments, and groin injuries. (The numbers vary in some reports.)
In 1998, in the Off-Broadway production starring Alec Baldwin and Angela Bassett, Baldwin somehow sliced open the hand of his Macduff.

Macbeth