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Sleep No More Shanghai: (Delayed) Highlights

*This was written over a year ago and I just rediscovered it in drafts, so some info (particularly castings) may be outdated*

It has been 2 years and 600 shows since Sleep No More opened in Shanghai. Of those 600 shows, I’ve attended around 14 of them - half in early 2017 and half in late 2018. Travelling half way around the world to watch a theatre performance is a bizarre concept to many people, but I’ve never left disappointed. Spending days full of real-world discovery and evenings full of Punchdrunk-world discovery makes for a very happy trip indeed.

Show-wise, this most recent visit was possibly even better than the first. Some of that may be familiarity, but it’s also down to small changes in the format, logistics and narrative. There’s a concern, especially when travelling so far, that expectations may not be met. But that wasn’t the case. 

SNM Shanghai has developed. Interestingly, according to conversations with some local fans, certain changes - especially those to the narrative - have had mixed responses. But for me as a visitor, every single show I saw had moments of genuine thoughtfulness and inspiration. It felt like care for the show often came from both sides; not just from impassioned audience members projecting their love of the format, but also cast and crew members striving to create a piece of art that is beautiful, and ever-changing.

Some highlights...

- Dull housekeeping highlight: the queuing system has been updated and is great. I’m sure I can’t be the only one who’s interested in queues (what can I say, I’m British) so here’s a quick breakdown. Upon arrival there are now two parallel, roped queues outside the front of building: one for on-the-hour ticket holders and one for the quarter past ticket holders (there are signs in Mandarin and English to show which is which). People are strictly let in according to the time on their tickets, so I imagine that these two queues become the half past and quarter to queues later on. On-the-hour ticket holders were let through to collect their tickets from a small hut about half an hour before the show started. We then entered the building, went through cloakroom (still free, hoorah) and receiving playing cards. It appears that playing cards are still shuffled about a bit, with a chance of either an Ace or a 2 if you’re one of the first in. 

- Quick shout out to the security guard who monitors the queue and lets people through. He does a stellar job, to the extent that every single show he made a point of picking us out in the queue to wave the 7pm sign at us. Despite having been there a few nights on the trot, he remained extremely skeptical that we ever truly understood the system. He was extremely friendly and we never went wrong under his watchful eye.

- Big bonus: on-the-hour ticket holders get a free pre-show drink in the Manderley! We had no idea, but a kind crew member ushered us over to the bar. You can choose from a number of drinks, including a couple of cocktails and mocktails. They were good. 

- Man and Woman in Bar made an appearance a few minutes before the first lift and usually performed a song before calling the Aces. Zhu Sujie’s Daphne was a highlight in this role - effortlessly charming and attentive. I always prefer an accessible Person in Bar, rather than someone intimidating. Daphne had the knack of making audience members feel comfortable and not ‘put on the spot’ when making conversation.  

- On the second show I exited the lift on the ground level, walked into the ballroom and stopped dead in my tracks: James Finnemore Banquo! A favourite Drowned Man performer, I had no idea he had travelled over to Sleep No More. He’s such a delicate, introspective performer and I’ve always enjoyed his dancing - his pre-hoedown, bar-top solo as Andy in TDM in particular. I thought he’d make an excellent Groom, and sure enough, I got to see it on the third show. 

- Speaking of castings, I’m sure there’s a good reason as to why Ed Warner isn’t playing Boy Witch, but I have no idea what that is. 

- Debby is one of the few performers who (as far as I know) has been in place since my first visit in early 2017. Her Bride is captivating and uncomfortable in all the right ways. That loop is such a rich addition to the show. In amongst all the subtleties and mysteries of a Punchdrunk show, hers is such a satisfyingly clear narrative that makes the downfall all the more affecting. I think she rivals Banquo for the best choreography in the show. 

- The surprise of seeing a familiar interaction from New York turn into something altogether greater for the chosen audience member. It ended, around 10 minutes later, on a completely different floor with different characters. The complexity of the interaction reminded me of The Drowned Man; how a certain audience member could feel like they’d, without realising, stepped into a funnel that led them to something, or somewhere, else entirely. Specifically, it reminded me of how sometimes after the Conrad’s Studio 8 1:1, you would get spit out into the basement and straight into an oncoming Stanford, who would grab you and tell you to keep what you’d just seen a secret. 

- In fact, that feeling of ‘riding the wave’ seems such more present in Shanghai than in New York. There are a number of interactions that are chosen by a different character to the one you end up with. That lack of control is marvellous. 

- Wang Mingchao’s Boy Witch was absolutely ace. Fickle, flirtatious and zero fucks given. I like a petite Boy Witch and his was full-on, spreading the Boy Witch love thinly across anyone and everyone in the vicinity. 

- Another powerhouse was Ching-I Chang’s Sexy Witch, who I followed first loop of my first show without even realising who she was. She’s a performer who commands attention and always seemed to have a devoted gaggle of followers whenever I saw her. Perhaps it was just her exceptional posture, but I think she’d be a brilliant Lady Macbeth. 

- Can I just say how much I like Simon Palmer and Laure Bachelot? I never spent much time with them during The Drowned Man (did Simon return as Harry on the final night or am I imagining things?) but they are both such generous and inclusive performers. Even when playing Speakeasy and Lady Macbeth respectively, they have a warmth to them that’s hard to resist. 

- Walking into a Shanghai-exclusive 2:1 on my final show that I never knew existed, and which I only received because the intended recipient backed away in horror at the hand being offered to him. I hope that audience member doesn’t regret denying the invitation, but I am very grateful to them whoever they are (and not too proud to be second choice!).

- New spaces: a connecting corridor on the 5th floor, a spooky nook in the 3rd floor graveyard. I found the latter while following Danvers. It’s interesting that no matter how many times you’ve seen a show, your heart does a total newbie-lurch and you get the jitters as soon as you’re in an unfamiliar space. Is that what it felt like the first time?? 

- New moments: a Boy Witch/Malcolm interaction by the ballroom. I couldn’t really see through the crowds - are they dancing?

- Having spent lots of time with Olly over the years - as Dwayne in TDM, as Macduff and Porter in New York, I spent little time with him here. But it always made me chuckle to see him pass by, 5 minutes into the show, having already accrued about 200 audience members. 

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Just because.

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Living in the U.K., my 'I have to come back' moment was at the end of my first TDM show when I saw all the characters on stage dancing the finale hoedown. I'd only managed to see 5 or 6 characters the entire show. At first I thought the rest were just very good backing dancers, but then I spotted The Fool on the end, and realised they must all be characters too and there was so much still to see. Clowns are never just backing dancers!

I loved the TDM finale. It completely trounces the SNM finale, in my opinion.

My second show was entirely spent searching for The Fool, and I finally managed to find him during the third loop - just as he started to dance and run circles in the snow room. It was worth the wait. God I miss that show.

Thinking back

After 35 shows, sometimes shows blend together, or its hard to recall a specific moment from a specific show. I cannot even imagine for those in the triple digits.

But I’m curious: what was the particular moment in your very first show, when you just knew you’d be back?

For me, it happened watching Tara Franklin as Hecate, performing the cabaret. We were front row, completely lost, and there was this beautiful woman in red. Lightning struck, words came out of her mouth that were not her own, and I needed to know more.

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This was especially funny before I realised that American 'pants' and English 'pants' are not the same thing 😞

WARDROBE MALFUNCTION  AT SLEEP NO MORE RESULTS IN BRILLIANTLY UNEXPECTED IMPROVISATION

So, yeah, this happened last night:

When Macbeth (Joe Poulson) returned from killing Duncan, Lady M (Annie Rigney) apparently had some trouble taking off his pants.  Being caught up in the moment and committed, Macbeth fell back into the tub anyway, pants and all.  He then managed to get his own pants off and toss them out and proceed with the scene.  Which is all well and good, but a few moments later when he decided to seek out the next witches prophecy, he had no pants.  But Macbeth wouldn’t let a little thing like no pants keep him from discovering his fate, so he ran off to the 4th floor in his undies.

Upon reaching the High Street, he spotted the Cunning Man (Steve Apicello) lurking in the shadows, charged him, and with his hands virtually around his throat, demanded that Fulton give him HIS pants.  Apparently Macbeth had a desperate and fiendish look about him, and Fulton immediately dropped trou and handed over the britches.  Macbeth dressed in the WAY TOO LONG pants and continued about his business.

You can’t make this stuff up, kids.

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Oh no I didn’t (oh yes I did)

Flights booked for a return visit in March! I am SO excited and already struggling to contain myself.

On a side-note, you know how sometimes it feels as if that little Punchdrunk devil on your shoulder is constantly (seemingly) giving you signs and whispering “Hey ... look at that. That’s a sign. You should go back. You don’t want to ignore THE SIGNS do you??”. Well, turns out that flights to NYC are cheaper since I relocated away from London to a completely different part of the country.

So, y’know, it’d be rude not to. 

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I love this. I’d never made the connection between the deer in the Lobby dining area and Hecate either. And I’m always a fan of Greek mythology.

Can someone remind me which taxidermy animal is placed in the maze on the top floor? I remember thinking of the Italian phrase ‘in bocca al lupo’ when I was last there, which is used in Italian to express a wish of good luck, but literally translates as 'in the wolf’s mouth’. Which makes me think it’s a wolf (I hope it’s a wolf!) but I could well have misremembered as I know wolves are present elsewhere in the building.

Regardless, I wonder if that piece could be a connection between Hecate and Matron, who I always think have a relationship somehow but have never been able to figure it out (damn being on the other side of the Atlantic). I like the idea of Matron being metaphorically held 'in the wolf’s mouth’, much like Porter is.

The animals/seeing theme also reminds me of the Greek mythological tale of Argus, who reputedly had 100 eyes and was Hera’s watchman. He was killed by Hermes while on a quest but in his honour Hera took his eyes and placed them on the tail of her favourite bird - a peacock.

Hecate is watching the Porter through the deer in the hotel dining room.

Like 8,000 loops of wondering “um why is he so suspicious of that deer?” and it finally just hit me.

Y/N? Am I the last person to realize this?

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+1

(and cowboy barmen)

things i miss

balloons

wide stairways

vistas so huge you can’t see the walls in the distance

easily-accessible alcohol

birthday cake

jelly babies, even though I never ate them because I wasn’t sure if they were vegan

laughter

DIALOG

the cast board, before the show

that weird mindfuck when the character you were following would enter the bar and everyone else would have their masks off

the fool

the “Perfume” soundtrack

sand

the Shangri-Las

conrad

walking alongside a character and not feeling crowded

“Jeepers Creepers”

red roses

snow

studio 8

“like a fire raging in the sky”

the smell of the basement

the smell of everywhere else

the red moon

lemonade

peas

just coincidentally getting a walkout without having to obviously angle for it

“once upon a time, there was a poor child…”

rorschach inkblots

“a world of smoke and mirrors”

the PA

dreams turned to dust

fairy lights

drag

“I Love Marie”

the “studio 8 rave” whateverthefuck that was that still turns everyone into an insane raving lunatic when they try to describe it

the taste of an old fashioned

mr stanford’s voice

oranges

frankie

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To: George Buchanan

1837 Straight Street

Encino

Los Angeles 91316

U.S.A.

Firense 20 October, 1962

Darling George,

Another day, another night has passed – and brings us closer to when we will meet but further from my memories of our last time together. I am in pain with passion. Your Juno misses her Jupiter. My loins turn when I think of you. I miss you dreadfully.

Did you receive my letter? I don’t know if my family would have given you my new address but here it is again:

Mina Jaegle

Largo Fratelli Tinari 11

50123 Firenze, Italy

I am waiting, dreaming, tossing and turning in my restless dreams. I feel your mind, grappling with the story of the Drowned Man, and I hope that you are not losing yourself in the work. I need you, I need your touch – if only by proxy. Oh do let me touch you through your words, through the imprints and marks of your feverish pen.

Another long day with Aretino in the archives today. I am making progress. But I am not sure in which direction. Perhaps I am too distracted by my longing for you – you are my magnetic North, and my needle is always drawn to you – the needle of my mind, juddering on its pivot, delicately balanced, seeking you always. Spinning and turning blindly, trying to sense where you are. Cursing the physical distance, stuck on its little pin.

My little pin – this small apartment. I guess it’s a refuge but it is lonely.

I don’t even think about the possibility that I have lost you to another woman. No! That cannot be. I cannot follow that thought down the road that leads to madness; destruction of all peace, all solace. No, my love. That cannot be. Our connection is too deep.

I miss you. I miss you. I miss you. There it is said. Can those words now leave my mind in peace? At least until I can touch what your hand touched, before it travelled across this awful distance between us. Your letters, your writing, the imprint of not just your pen and hand, but of your thoughts and your mind. That most precious place, where I long to touch you now.

As always,

Your “HotLips”

Mina

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How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.

A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh (via larmoyante)

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All our yesterdays - Shows 13-17

I went back. Of course I did. Friends had already booked a trip and my originally steadfast resolve wavered, crumbled, and then dissipated entirely. I regret nothing. 

My return journey was an interesting one as, unexpectedly, I entered every single show without any idea what I wanted to see, who I wanted to follow, or where I wanted to go. It wasn’t indifference, but more a willingness to follow my feet wherever they led me. 

That approach is completely different to not just my first visit, but to every single one of my Drowned Man shows too. It gave me perhaps my favourite SNM show so far, and it also gave me a bad show the likes of which I never thought I’d experience. But, the result is four clear memories which, for posterity, I am hereby recalling. Apologies for the length. 

Bald Witch - First trip, my Bald Witch loops were down to sheer indecision. Everyone leaves after the ballroom and you do a weird scaredy-deer hop in each direction as you decide for, and then against, following a certain character. So, you’re left with Bald. Exactly the same happened this time, but “left with” is doing the character a serious disservice as I think it could well be my favourite loop to start a show with. The Witches all harness power in their own ways, but Bald has a compelling strength of character.

(I think I mentioned this in some way-back-when recap, but I find Boy and Sexy difficult to follow. I love the characters, but I find them hard to follow in the same way I find sticky toffee pudding hard to eat - it’s freakin’ DELICIOUS, but it’s too much of a good thing and after the third mouthful I’m starting to feel a little queasy). 

But Bald is a different matter. She’s a key lime pie, and I could eat that forever. She seems older, calmer, more focused. I like her. She always appears to be in control, and I noticed this particularly as I followed her out of the rave scene and into the apothecary. Each of the witches encounters water immediately after the rave and although I realise this is not just an artistic flourish but a necessity for the performers as they clean up, Bald is alone in calmly applying it to herself. Boy has it rain down on him as he cowers in the shower, repeatedly slipping and flailing as he tries to leave. Sexy seems to exorcise it from her body as she flings herself over the bar, writhing and crawling away. But Bald sits down, looks you in the eye, and washes herself clean. Easy as key lime pie. 

(My brain wanders to vampires being burnt by holy water, but perhaps that’s just too much Buffy). 

Boy Witch - Speak of the devil. So after a number of failed Boy Witch loops last visit (he’s mean and he intersects with Porter, what can I say) I was determined to bite the bullet and get in the mindset for a Boy Witch loop. I won’t bang on about it but basically, I loved it. Really, really loved it. Like, one of my favourite loops ever loved it. Basically, I didn’t realise he danced so much - so many little individual routines in between the main ones you’re likely to see while following others. He’s dancing in corridors, in between trees, under spotlights, atop tables, across luggage racks. I am a big dance fan and I felt like a prize doofus for having missed all that gorgeousness for so long. It was Billy Bell, and he was magnificent. Even Porter couldn’t tempt me away. 

Porter - Er, yeah. Well, not much to say here. Other than Ollie’s Porter HOEDOWNS and it nearly brought a tear to my eye. 

Mezzanine - As I already mentioned I had one particularly bad show. And hey, they happen. Usually (for me anyway) they’re more down to your mindset rather than any extraneous factors, but this was a whopper of a bad show. There was bad luck, bad timing, bad choices, bad EVERYTHING. I tried every trick in the book to remedy the situation: I turned my back on busy scenes to find something new, I turned my attention to objects rather than characters, I followed the music, I followed the lights, but nope - it just wasn’t my night. 

(Just to give you an indication of how this night felt, here’s a story: half-way through the show I was floating around town feeling pathetic and wondering what else I could do to fix it. I know! A trip to Paisley Sweets to pick up a Strawberry! I rarely go there and this will give me a purpose and result in A SWEET. I clung to this nugget of positivity and headed off only to find that Sexy and Macduff were dancing in there. I tried to push out of my mind how typical it felt that this scene is about a minute long and the loop is an hour and WHAT ARE THE CHANCES of me trying to go at the exact moment that scene was happening - 1 in 60 obviously - but anywho. I went round the block, battled against crowds of followers and entered Paisley only to find ... no Strawberries. There had been a full jar two days previously. There was even an empty space where the jar should have been. Cue serious gritted teeth). 

So I had one trick left - go somewhere you’ve never been before - and there was only one place in the building I knew I hadn’t stepped foot in - the mezzanine box. So I went down, stepped in and lo and behold - there’s a chair in there! I sat, took a deep breath and started to relax. And I understood that you just can’t force these things, sometimes they’re just not meant to be, and you've got to work with what you’ve got instead. And what I had at that moment, was a delightfully quiet, empty and peaceful mezzanine box. The reset music began to play, I leant over to watch as the trees began to move, and thus I spent the entire third loop sitting in that box watching the action unfold beneath me. I didn’t leave once, meaning I saw two new dances (I even had a little dance myself as no one could see me - I hope) and had pride of place for the finale too. 

If you’re ever having one of those evenings, give it a go. Plus it’s kind of fun to see people jump when they suddenly realise there’s a weirdo just sitting in the armchair in the corner. 

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Twelve years after it opened in London, Punchdrunk’s take on Macbeth is still packing them in in New York – with a bar and restaurant attached. Has success tarnished the magic – or does it still seduce?

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I was 20 minutes early to a meeting at Shakespeare's Globe theatre, so I quickly popped into the shop. I'm now the proud owner of a Mugbeth.

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This is really interesting, it's funny how certain spaces 'spoke' to certain people.

When I get the ache for Temple Studios (admittedly that does happen less now than it used to) it is certain spaces that I pine for, rather than characters.

At first I thought that odd seeing as I very rarely focused on the set, being a follower rather than a wanderer. But I've come to the conclusion that it's because the space is the only thing that is truly lost to us, and cannot be replicated in real life.

The emotions I felt for characters, which is what really drew me in and kept me going back - pity, admiration, fear, curiosity, warmth - are emotions that are often present in day to day life. But the feeling of wandering like a ghost, invisible yet empowered, seeing but unseen, is something I cannot recreate. That's what I really miss.

This isn’t like me, but in the last couple of weeks or so I’ve started to miss TDM so much it *hurts*. I suppose this is just like bereavement, in that you think you get over the loss of the loved one until one day something triggers a sudden pang of grief. (Obviously bereavement is much more...

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Yet I will try the last - Show 12

I had a plan for my last show, and that was to treat it like my first: wander, absorb, enjoy. This meant I walked out of the first lift, straight past the ballroom scene and instead spent my first 10 minutes patrolling a deserted lobby, town and fifth floor. Not a single character was around yet on those upper floors. I didn't even come across a single other white mask. It felt like a dreamscape SNM - endless, charged, and just for me. 

But eventually I made my way back down to fourth to find that I had not magically booked the entire show just for myself, and other audience members were indeed populating the spaces. Speakeasy had a sizeable group but I stayed with him - how could I leave without witnessing one last audience card game? 

Midway through the second loop I say my silent goodbyes to Speakeasy and made my way down the staircase to the mezzanine level. I poked my head around and up pops Banquo, so I duly take off after him. I think Banquo has some of my favourite dances in the show - solo birdy ballroom, luggage area, with Bald Witch in the crypt. I hadn't thought I'd spend my last show with him, but you never know exactly how goodbyes will feel until you have to go.

After some time with Porter in the third loop (always time well spent) I return to the fourth floor, my favourite space, and wander, watching as little pockets of activity scurry past, burst forth from doorways, nip behind closed doors. And soon enough (too soon, really) it's the finale. A scene I felt neutral towards at the start of the run, as inevitably I compared it with the incredible TDM finale which was an absolute riot of dance, all bouncing bodies, flying legs and stamping feet.

But when I got home and my partner asked me "how was it?" and I struggled to find the words to article exactly how it was (how MUCH it was), instead I turned to the finale. The inevitability of it, each and every show. The act of descending down, down as far as you can go, to witness the end (or ends, in fact). The hushed crowd, the upturned faces, the drone (that always served to me as a reminder of life ongoing, like the sound of distant traffic when you're feeling alone). The grab of a rope, the squeeze of an ankle, a shout. The fall, the constriction and then, for us at least, the release. Light, movement, and nightingales. 

Endings are hard, but they can be beautiful too. And this goodbye was as beautiful as they get.

Thank you for reading, for all your kinds words and help - both in person and on here. I thought I enjoyed all your recaps before going, but now I am positively lapping them up (EAM Porter night I left - dagger to the heart! Conor Porter night after I left - double dagger to the heart!). I hope I can return sometime but if not, then at least I have these memories, a pocketful of cards and one very sorry bank account to remind myself that I didn't just dream it all up. 

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That perilous stuff which weighs upon the heart ...

I'm back home. Work + jet lag + outright denial means that my final recap will be delayed till the weekend. I think perhaps I just want to hold onto it for a little longer, but it's coming. And then, as Lady M herself said, "all's spent". 

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-The bathrooms during the experience are real. I made the mistake of thinking they were just another room and I accidentally walked in on a guy trying to poop (not sure why the door was unlocked) during the experience. We just kind of stared at each other for a second with our masks on.

Yelp (via helpfulpirate)

Ha! Earlier this week I was part of a group of people who charged with great enthusiasm into the men’s toilets. I’m not sure who started it but it took us all a couple of seconds to realise before shuffling dejectedly out (or staying to use the facilities).

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Good God, betimes remove The means that makes us strangers! - Show 11

If I hadn’t already decided to title my recaps with Macbeth quotes, show 11 would have been poetically titled (excuse my language): Where The Fucking Fuck Is Malcolm?

This exact phrase was running through my mind for precisely two thirds of last night’s show as I had made it my mission to track him down. Honestly, I’ve seen more of Malcolm on other shows when I HAVEN’T been trying to find him, than I did for the first two loops of last night when I WAS trying to.

Deciding to follow him was an easy decision to make. It was my penultimate show and he’s proved the most elusive character so far. In my very first show I successfully followed him up a single staircase before losing him to the crowds. Since then I’ve seen him playing the card game in the speakeasy, in his office tying to note to the bird (although at the time I thought that was Fulton), pushing trees in the basement, and then at banquet/ballroom time. Those were the only places I knew he went but I had no idea of the sequence, or indeed where he ventured to in between.

I started off well, heading down to the ballroom to find him (played by Paul Corning) dancing with Boy Witch. I stood right, he ran off left. First Malcolm fail of the night. Not to worry, I thought, he’ll turn up soon enough. How wrong I was.

Caught on the right side of the ballroom having well and truly lost Malcolm, I idled my way up the staircase after Sexy and Boy, thinking I’ll follow them up to the fourth floor to resume my hunt. But that route involves going past the Porter and, well, moth to a flame and all that. (Incidentally, this meant that I saw for the first time Austin’s Porter slow dancing with his own reflection - that was worth the Malcolm plan abandonment alone).

At reset I headed down to the mezzanine, with an inkling that Malcolm moves the trees around this time. Incorrect. I don’t know if I was too early, too late, or just full on wrong, but no Malcolm. Up again to his office on the fourth floor and then a wander around peeking into the shops. No Malcolm (this is where: Where The Fucking Fuck Is Malcolm really started to come into play).

Back down the staircase I catch the end of Macbeth/Banquo’s reset in the luggage area. A plan emerges: I know Banquo eventually ends up in the card game scene with Malcolm, so I will follow him until then and then transfer over. How far away can that be? Answer: BLOODY AGES. At Banquo’s 1:1 time I peered once again over the mezzanine and the trees were moving! In my head trees moving = Malcolm so I skidded down to the ballroom. No Malcolm (there’s a theme emerging here). Perhaps I’d just missed him. Back up to the fourth floor. No Malcolm.

Having now added Banquo to my missing characters list I decided to just wait it out in the Speakeasy, enjoying the audience card game that had just started playing out. And a few minutes later, joy of joys, Malcolm arrives. I resist from punching the air in exultation and settle down to watch that scene. Then he stands, I tense. Then he looks around, I get ready. Then he runs off at a million miles an hour in the opposite direction, using the furthest exit from me and leaving about 500 audience members between us (possible exaggerations there, but that’s what it felt like). Great.

Moments later I experience a nanosecond of joy as I see him in town, but it’s short lived as he nips around the corner and into a locked room for the interrogation scene. But lurking outside locked rooms does have its benefits and eventually he emerges and we head down to the banquet scene and soon enough my hard-earnt Malcolm loop finally starts in earnest.

And was it worth it? Absolutely. I’d never seen the shaving scene with Duncan (which was excellent), the drinks with Banquo before the ballroom, or his scenes with Agnes in his office. It may have taken me two whole loops to get there, but the final loop was so full of eureka moments that so many disparate components finally came together and there was no question in my mind I’d done the right thing. I also managed to squeeze into the interrogation scene on that final loop, which is just a stunningly choreographed scene. I’d seen it once before with no context (Fulton pushed me in as I wandered past), but this time I understood the suspicion, the suspense, the fear. I kept on thinking of what was happening at that exact same moment in the Speakeasy, wishing that they could know too in order to stop it. But, as we know blood will have blood. It is already written.