By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

You can't say the word "Macbeth" in a theater. You can't quote from Shakespeare's shortest play either, unless of course, you're in an actual production of the play. And if you are in an actual production of the play, you have to be very careful. The play is cursed.

Some people believe the superstition began from the very first production in 1606, when the actor playing Lady Macbeth died of a mysterious fever just an hour before curtain time.

The list of casualties through the history of the play is daunting:

In one early performance, the audience started heckling so loudly that the actors went nuts and started attacking the crowd with their swords.

In a more contemporary performance in 1947, an actor was accidentally killed during the fight scene with Macduff.

Laurence Olivier, playing the part of Macbeth, was almost killed by a 25 pound weight that fell from rigging.

Charlton Heston, during his turn in the title role, was injured when, through the most unlikely set of circumstances, his tights got soaked with kerosene and lit on fire.

The list goes on: mishaps and accidents, legs broken, falls from the set, a prop dagger that didn't retract, an electrocution.

Some attribute these misfortunes to the fact that the play features dimly lit fight scenes with weapons.

Another thought is that the play is a sure-fire audience-pleaser, and thus is often hastily added to a theater's season when other plays have tanked. It's a quick fix for getting out of the red. Of course, this means a quickly cobbled together performance, not enough rehearsal time, and therefore a breeding ground for mistakes and accidents.

Just mentioning the word "Macbeth" in a theater can curse a production. It is a reference to a money-losing season. It's a jinx on the current production. The utterance of the word is so distracting to actors that anyone uttering the offending word is often forced to perform some cleansing ritual like running around the theater three times, swearing and spitting.

"Macbeth" is to theater what "gambling" is to the Legislature.

Gambling is brought up as a quick fix for getting out of the red. It's seen as a crowd-pleaser. It's very mention is a huge distraction to the work at hand, and its poor and hasty execution could mean real injury to all involved.

The very word should be banned from in the Legislature. Not a formal ban, of course, because that would be silly, but one enforced with raised eyebrows and a whispered "Hala!" or "Ahana koko lele!" whenever it is said aloud.

Anyone who dares utter the offending term should be made to run around the Capitol building, spitting and swearing optional.

The big difference, of course, the large gap in the analogy is that "Macbeth" is a great play. Gambling is a bad idea.