Panto newbies learn superstition and tradition

Actors are notorious for being a superstitious bunch - the number of theatre-related superstitions is incredible and most actors seem to have a few personal ones of their own too. Some common theatre superstitions include never saying the name of 'the Scottish play' (Macbeth) inside the theatre, not whistling on stage, not wishing an actor 'good luck', and not wearing a particular colour (the banned colour varies from country to country). Here's a quiz that will test your knowledge of the subject - I scored eight on ten.

Turns out that Panto is not immune to superstition - I did not know this, but it is considered unlucky in general to speak the last line of any performance in rehearsal, and this superstition is followed in the case of Panto. Now the last line of every Panto is always the same: "And as we always say in Panto, be nice to each other!".

When we were up on stage during our first performance with an audience, the chorus member standing right behind me muttered out of the side of his mouth, "Now we're all going to say, 'Be nice to each other'". The chorus girl standing next to me had never actually watched a Panto, so she was very confused, and that's when I realised that we had never actually said the last line before! I imagine that several chorus members were very surprised, because quite a few had never watched a Panto before being in this one.

Panto newbies had more surprises later on in the run - I didn't know until a friend explained to me on the 29th of December that during the very last show of the year (which would be the next day) the cast sing Auld Lang Syne on stage, and champagne is passed around for us. Well, everyone in the chorus knew how to drink but not everyone knew the lyrics! It was a bit late to be learning archaic Scots, so them as didn't know it made up their own words, and I doubt anyone noticed.


All the superstitions and traditions are fun to learn and use, and contribute to the feeling that entering the theatre is like entering a different world. I guess that having offstage magic helps to make it happen onstage!