Break A Leg

There are I know many frequenters of these corridors with thespian leanings and you will of course be familiar with this traditional good luck salutation to actors as they prepare to tread the boards. But do you know from whence the saying came ?

Its provenance has been the subject of much heated debate down the years and arguments both friendly and bitter have simmered away relentlessly.

So it came to pass that I made it my business to seek out the truth, the definitive answer and after many long days spent thumbing through mucky pages wearing white latex gloves ( but enough of my leisure time activities ) I can now reveal the truth.

The man responsible for the felicitation was our very own quill brandishing bard Mr William Shakespeare.

It was indeed a directorial note attached by him to one of his most revered plays , Hamlet. The instruction seems to have disappeared from published versions around the beginning of the 20th century , possibly the influence of Bowdler , but that is mere speculation.

Anyway I digress , the full instruction from Shakespeare reads as follows ;

" Nothing but wholehartedness can carry this play to the place I envisage , half-measures will avail us of nothing. I desire that ye shall give one hundred and ten per cent to the cause and should there be mishaps and accidents in the course of that effort then so be it.

For verily I say to thee , One can't make a Hamlet without first breaking a few legs."