Of all professions, actors are the most superstitious. The likely cause is their vivid imagination and strong sense of fantasy; requirements if you are to be in theatre. In his book, Supernatural on Stage, Richard Hugget describes the actor's situation thus "it is not our bodies which we actors endanger, but our hearts and souls: it is not bullets nor storms nor bombs nor cave-ins we fear but the most deadly and unpredictable and relentless of all natural forces-public opinion and fashion." This is the artistic and emotional turmoil in which superstitions take root and flourish.
Like other traditions, superstitions surrounding the theater can be a sense of comfort and camaraderie for those working together in that theater or in a theater troupe. While there are many common beliefs, most people in or connected to the theater also have their own superstitions and traditions, with their own reasons behind doing them. There are those who could not go on without their lucky charm sewn somewhere in their costume for example or twirling around three times in the makeup room. Different theater troupes too will have their own good luck traditions. While some traditions can be traced to their origins, others we can only guess how they came to be. The links to the right explain some of the more popular superstitious beliefs and practices that surround the theatre.
