Superstition wants the purple colorin the theater, worn or present in objects and elements of the stage, I bring bad luck to the show and the actors. It is a belief that has its roots in the Middle Ages, when the Lent – liturgical period marked by this color – coincided with the suspension of shows and the lack of work for the artists. Furthermore, in more recent times, in 17th centurythe production of purple fabrics was a lot expensive: therefore this color, in the theater, was used only in the most relevant and certainly successful works, because if the representation had been a flask, the purple clothes would have been one waste of money.
The purple color is associated with Lent, when the artists did not work
In the Christian tradition, i Forty days preceding Easter, they are a period of renunciation, sacrifice and fastingto be more “pure” when Christ rises. If today these terms are observed in a more symbolic and spiritual way, in ancient times Lent was a period where Celebrations and moments of community and joy they were prohibited: among these they were suspended also the theatrical performancesespecially those in public form. In the Middle Ages actors, musicians, acrobats, jesters, dancers did not work for forty days: in a sector like that of the theater, where the companies earned on the basis of the positions conferred, it meant literally hunger.
The connection with the purple color was born because in certain liturgical periods, when the priests celebrate mass, they wear the Purple vestments: this happens in the period of Lent, Advent and during the funeral, precisely because it is a color is strongly associated with the concepts of waiting, penance and spiritualitywhich in Christian religion find fulfillment precisely in these specific liturgical moments.
Purple fabrics in the 18th century: a very expensive investment on theatrical stages
In the 17th centuryspecifically in French theaters, i Viola color fabrics and of connected shades, including the purple, were very expensivebecause a long, refined and laborious process was needed to make them. The coloring, in fact, already known in ancient times, and used by peoples such as the Romans and Phoenicians, was extracted from some species of marine molluscs – including the Murice – which secrete a substance which, through the oxidation process, takes on the purple color. The long process to obtain small quantities of pigment made rise the colors of the fabric: Not surprisingly, purple was used on very precious objects and fabrics, including the crowns of the royals. Making purple clothes for a theatrical show meant investing enormously on the success of the representation because, if it had not yielded the hoped for income, it waste of money It would have been enormous.
So then the viola again It is not well seen on the stageand continues to bring behind his aura of bad luck and difficulty, a legacy that today remains as colorful superstition, gradually unloaded by the evolution of the times. Today, in fact, purple appears on the stage as well as in famous ceremonies, when the red carpet is treaded, even if, like many other superstitions and superstitious rites, it remains part of our culture.
