The Scottish Play

[4] Popular lines for this purpose include, "Angels and ministers of grace defend us" (Hamlet 1.IV), "If we shadows have offended" (A Midsummer Night's Dream 5.II), and "Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you" (The Merchant of Venice, 3.IV).

The cleansing rituals have been parodied numerous times in popular culture, including in Blackadder, Slings and Arrows, The Simpsons, The West Wing, and Make It Pop.

[5] For example, in the Blackadder episode "Sense and Senility", a parody ritual performed by two actors involves slapping each other's hands pat-a-cake fashion, followed by tweaking the other person's nose.

[11][failed verification] In 1988, Bulgarian singer, coach, and translator Bantcho Bantchevsky committed suicide while attending a nationally broadcast matinee of Verdi's Macbeth.

[12] Ari Aster, writer and director of Hereditary, said that during filming, "Alex Wolff told me not to say the name of William Shakespeare's Scottish play out loud because of some superstitious theater legend.

"[13] At the 94th Academy Awards, Chris Rock congratulated Denzel Washington on his performance in The Tragedy of Macbeth, saying the name of the Scottish play aloud in the Dolby Theatre.

Viewers, including playwright Lynn Nottage, quickly took to social media to joke that Rock had suffered the curse of the Scottish play.

[14] Further instances include the Astor Place Riot in 1849, injuries sustained by actors at a 1937 performance at The Old Vic that starred Laurence Olivier, Diana Wynyard's accidental fall in 1948, and burns suffered by Charlton Heston in 1954.