Almost from the moment the play was first performed, people have had a superstitious belief that William Shakespeare's Macbeth is cursed. The idea that bad luck surrounds the play has become so much a part of theater tradition that many actors still do not utter its name. Instead, they refer to it as The Scottish Play, a reference which may relate either to its setting in the Scottish Highlands, or to the fact that it was written in honor of King James I of England (James VI of Scotland).

So, where does the idea of a curse come from and how do you break it if you accidentally speak the name of Macbeth within the theater?