Chookas!

The whistling superstition arose in England in the past few centuries when seaside theatres would employ sailors as stage-hands when they were having shore-leave, due in part to their strength and proficiency with knot-tying. As they were all used to communicating through an intricate series of whistles on ships, in order to drop a sail or rig a mast or whatever, these sailors found that the whistling transferred easily to the theatre, to let each other know when it was time to fly a prop or drop a curtain. This led to all sorts of trouble, however, when people would whistle at the wrong point, or accidentally, and some sailor-techie in the gods would let fly with a heavy (and unexpected) piece of scenery. As a result, whistling in the theatre became taboo, as it might result in someone being bonked on the head!

Sorry to butt in with my version of this tidbit's origin - I just love the history associated with what we do!!

Toby

PS - Of course, there's the other (almost too well known!) theatre superstition - that of the 'Scottish Play'. The story goes that when Shakespeare wrote M***eth, he stole the witches' incantations from real witches -- that the play has been cursed ever since. Hence no one in the theatre utters the "M" word for fear of calamity.

Legend has it that the actor who originally played Lady M was taken so ill on opening night that Shakespeare, himself, had to play the part -- for, in those days, men played all the roles, male and female.

A more likely scenario for Ma***th's (reminds me of a recent PICA show?) curse is the fact that it is Shakespeare's shortest play - as a result of its length and immense popularity, companies would rush their way through productions (featuring more sword play than any other of Shakespeare's) to maximise profit - and we all know that the biggest disasters can occur - such as wayward swords and tumbles from stages - when actors are rushed and not concentrating... There are plenty of theories as to Ma***th's curse - but the above is the most logical that I can think of.