#sleepwalking lady macbeth

[notdelusionalatall]

The sleepwalking Lady Macbeth

[poorlittleyaoyao]

In a way, Qin Su's a lot like Lady Macduff. Lady Macduff also only exists for one brief scene before being viciously murdered for the sole purpose of harming her husband--both in-universe (Macbeth orders Macduff's family killed in retribution for Macduff rebelling against him) and narratively (guilt and grief over the loss of his family motivates Macduff to kill Macbeth). We know next to nothing about Lady Macduff, but she has so much PERSONALITY in those few minutes that she leaves an impact on the audience.

Qin Su also only exists for one brief scene, and also dies for the sole purpose of harming her husband both in-universe (Nie Huaisang may not have set out intending to kill her, but he sure didn't object to it) and narratively (Qin Su is but one entry in Jin Guangyao's List Of Crimes that doubles as a List Of Personal Tragedies), and also makes a lasting impact, except! Except.

Whereas we know more about Qin Su's backstory and her relationship with Jin Guangyao than we do about Lady Macduff's backstory and relationship with Macduff (Qin Su has her own name, for starters!), Lady Macduff's fridging pans out in the more traditional sense. Macduff's reaction to her death is the emotional centerpiece of the scene in which it occurs and is one of the most impactful moments of the entire play, even though the play is called Macbeth and Macduff himself appears in only two scenes beforehand. His handful of appearances after this moment are all about his now deeply personal hatred of Macbeth. ("If thou be'st slain and with no stroke of mine, my wife and children's ghosts shall haunt me still.")

Qin Su doesn't even get the dignity of that! The centerpiece of the scene in which she dies has nothing to do with her or even with her husband: it's Wangxian's grand romantic gesture on the stairs, followed by Wei Wuxian drawing Suibian. She stabs herself and she comes in THIRD. And forget about her having lasting impact! Lasting impact for female characters is reserved for Jiang Yanli and even she's on thin ice!

Just!!!!!! This is why it's important to me that Jin Guangyao weeping over her corpse is genuine and isn't just a Clever Ruse(TM) to dodge suspicion: though Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng certainly should have a response and fic authors who explore that are doing the Lord's work, Jin Guangyao is literally THE ONLY ONE who expresses any sort of emotion about Qin Su beyond "damn, that's crazy!", and I NEED FOR SOMEONE TO CARE.

[mosssik]

Artus Scheiner — Lady Macbeth Sleepwalking, illustration from 'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare (c.1900)

[natequarter]

MACBETH: Whence is that knocking?  How is't with me, when every noise appals me?  What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes.  Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood  Clean from my hand?

'will all great neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?' is one of the most famous lines from macbeth, but what fascinates me is the line before it - 'every noise appals me.' if we factor in macbeth's otherwise guilt (bloodstains), paranoia, and hallucinations (daggers, banquo), not to mention general panicking (particularly when the subjects of duncan or banquo's deaths come up) and insomnia, he's already pretty messed up, but this excerpt seems to suggest that even sudden noises startle him. honestly, all of this put together, it seems like both macbeth and his wife are traumatised by the murder of duncan

[carpe-mamilia]

What fabulous feedback from your tutors! Well done on completing your course and good luck with whatever comes next x

Thank you very much ❤ It's been a packed term (the end of two packed years) and a lot of hard work but also so much joy. And absolutely no-one asked for this (😂) but this is the last show I worked on as Costume Supervisor, my baby Catastrophe Bay, and I'm very proud of it. Click for full size versions:

[a1ex-is-dumb]

felt tired and was about to go to sleep. said this to my friend that i was on call with, who replied by saying, “goodnight, i hope you deserve it.”

WTF HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO REPLY TO THAT

anyways i hung up and now i fear for the short mortal life i must endure on this planet

[wastrelwoods]

will graham + paintings

caravaggio, saint francis of assisi in ecstasy (1595) // 3x06, “dolce”

2x07, “yakimono” // michaelangelo, david (1504)

wilhelm trübner, lady macbeth sleepwalking (1884) 1x13, “releves”

2x01, “kaiseki” // vincent van gogh, fishing in spring, pont de clichy (1887)

thomas lea, two thousand yard stare (1944) // 1x01, “aperitif”

[pt 1: alana] [pt 2: abigail]

[nicholasbritel]

Where is Lady Macbeth? She’s right there. So close! What is she doing? She’s sleepwalking. Do you want to wake her? No.

[butchhamlet]

a scene-by-scene playlist for macbeth--one song for each scene. you know the drill by now. track list with rationale under the cut; special thanks to @blackcatarts for help with the selection :3 happy halloween season, y'all.

track list + rationale

act one

1.1 (the witches enter) - Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Lorde Cover) (feels self-explanatory, plus the vibe of it feels like panning in over a foggy battlefield)

1.2 (duncan finds out macbeth slayed) - Aneurysm by Nirvana (found this one on this macbeth playlist a while back and it has remained a macbeth song to me forever and ever; the manic energy fits the battlefield fervor here)

1.3 (macbeth and banquo meet the witches) - They by Jem (“and it’s ironic too // ‘cause what we tend to do // is act on what they say // and then it is that way… who are they? where are they? how can they possibly know all this?”)

1.4 (duncan names malcolm his successor) - Money Money Money by ABBA (he’s plotting! he’s planning! stars, hide your fires! look just trust me on this one)

1.5 (lady macbeth reads the letter & reunites with macbeth) - She’s Kerosene by the Interrupters (every lyric of this song is about lady macbeth.)

1.6 (lady macbeth welcomes duncan to her castle) - Silver Platters by Les Gold (“no need to be cordial // you could be immortal // if you take the risk // could you take the risk?” + “step out on the dance floor // this is what you asked for // such a pretty face // what was it underneath the mask for?”)

1.7 (the macbeths argue) - Fight For Me by AlicebanD (macbeths song of all time!!!)

act two

2.1 (dagger scene) - Disturbia by Rihanna (the supernatural begins to bleed into the world! will someone please direct a macbeth where this comes on during this scene) 

2.2 (post-murder argument) - Prowl Great Cain by The Mountain Goats (very macbeth song. placed here for “and i feel guilty, but i can’t feel ashamed!” & mention of sleepwalking & betrayal & prowling [cf. his line about tarquin in 2.1])

2.3 (porter scene, duncan’s death comes out) - Daniel in the Den by Bastille (“felled in the night by the ones you think you love // they will come for you” + “and for every king that died // they would crown another”)

2.4 (hey. don’t cry. duncan’s horses ate each other) - When He Died by Lemon Demon (literally a song about the world getting fucked up after a guy dies what can i say)

act three

3.1 (banquo gets suspicious) - Aha! by Imogen Heap (entire song about people pretending to be better than they are, including an actual serial killer. + “cost you to keep me quiet” with banquo…)

3.2 (the macbeths are fracturing) - The Horror of Our Love by Ludo (EXTREMELY MACBETHS SONG. here because this is the scene where they start to switch places, with him the one buying into violence as the answer & telling her not to worry about gory details)

3.3 (banquodeath) - Bury A Friend by Billie Eilish (rdj meme voice: he has murdered his friend)

3.4 (banquet scene) - Bird Song by Florence + the Machine (song about killing the witness and then being haunted by that witness and completely losing your shit trying to shut their ghost up…)

3.5 (hecate) - Hecate by Wendy Rule (i don’t give a shit about this scene i’m sorry. interpolation boooooo)

3.6 (lennox talks politics) - Dark Doo Wop by MS MR (foggy apocalyptic ones. “it’s all gone to shit // it’s out of our hands”)

act four

4.1 (double double toil & trouble) - Hot Knife by Fiona Apple (i’m a hot knife i’mmmm a hot knife i’m a hot knife he’s a pat of butter… you’re just gonna have to trust me on this one. my school’s macbeth had heavy drumming all through this scene and it’s associated with this song to me forever)

4.2 (macduff’s family is murdered) - Pretty Little Things by the Crane Wives (songs about pretty/fragile things being destroyed because of men’s betrayal… thinking about how lady macduff blames her husband for abandoning her to the wolves :( )

4.3 (malcolm and macduff) - All or Nothing by the Dream Masons (songs that are about both malcolm and macduff. the first verse especially is very malcolm, as a young prince stranded among enemies; the chorus is especially macduff-deciding-to-kill-macbeth-or-die-trying)

act five

5.1 (lady macbeth sleepwalks) - Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song) by Fiona Apple (LADY MACBETH GUILT SONG! “those boon times went bust // my feet of clay, they dried to dust // the red isn’t the red we painted, it’s just rust” w her imaginary bloodstains, + “i’m either so sick in the head i need to be bled dry to quit // or i just really used to love him // i sure hope that’s it”)

5.2 (the scots and english gather) - Marked Man by Mieka Pauley (songs i considered for 4.3 as well. they are coming to Get His Ass)

5.3 (macbeth preparing to fight) - For the Departed by Shayfer James (songs about knowing you’re about to get got but what does it matter when you’re already damned)

5.4 (the fucking wood is moving guys) - Kingdom Fall by Claire Wyndham (songs i almost put on the prior scene, for “i’d rather watch my kingdom fall // i want it all or not at all,” but eventually i placed it here because… well, we are watching the kingdom fall, my guy)

5.5 (tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow) - Drowning in the Sound by Amanda Palmer (okay, this is kind of because of “sound and fury,” but also it’s soooo macbeth act 5. “and the body is a temple but the temple is a prison and the prison’s overcrowded and the inmates know it’s flooded and the body politic is getting sicker by the second” + “do you ever feel like this should be officially the end? // and that you should be the one to do the ending, but you can’t?” + the inevitability…)

5.6 (scots + english arrive) - Lion’s Teeth by the Mountain Goats (song about trying to kill a powerful and tyrannical figure. also sounds like a fight scene)

5.7 (macduff and macbeth come face to face) - Bury Me Face Down by grandson (so obsessed with how firmly this guy would rather go down fighting than do literally anything easier)

5.8 (macbeth’s head presented, malcolm crowned) - King of the World by WAR*HALL (a new king is crowned after one dies by violence. fleance is still out there somewhere. the cycle of violence continues. this one doesn’t work unless you imagine the witches watching pityingly/sinisterly in the background)

[heartinportuairk]

I went to the final performance of Macbeth last night and I wanted to make some notes for myself so I would remember some things. I only use this account for lurking but I am making this public in case anyone scouring the David Tennant / Macbeth tags is interested in my musings for some reason.

I had been lucky enough to have seen this production three times already before last night - twice in December and once in January - so I have been able to track its journey and pick out what changes night on night and what doesn't. I have found that fascinating. Any changes were minor and pretty much exclusively found in simply the way a line was spoken. For example, the brilliant Noof Oussellam (Macduff)'s "but I must also feel it as a man" was impassioned and angry the first and last times, but the two times inbetween I found it to be more subtle. More sadness, more despair than anger. I guess it comes down to how the actor is feeling it in that point in time and I think it shows a great understanding of the character that they play them in the moment and don't just mimic themselves night after night.

The other great thing about going multiple times is viewing it from different angles. I saw it from all sides, twice from the stalls and twice from the front row of the circle. Honestly, circle was better, especially for Macbeth's death in the closing moments. You do not get the effect of the blood seeping out from under him from the stalls and I tell you now, that image from above sears itself onto your brain.

All of the actors are incredible and have been from the start, but there were a few times last night where I could feel them step up their game. Like they knew it was the last time they were going to say that line (at least for a while) so they were going to give it their all.

One of those times was Macbeth's "tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy which had always been brilliant and very moving, but about which something was a little different last night. The quiet, raw emotion in that speech felt as though it had been ramped up (or down??) a notch and was so palpable that it brought a tear to my eye.

Another moment came from Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene. Again, always brilliant and always moving but somehow desperately sadder this time around. I wanted to give that murderous, conniving fiend a big hug.

The Porter:

The porter scene is funny but obviously not as much when you know what's coming. Which is why when somebody in the audience yelled out "who's there?" right before he got a chance to say his "ok seriously do none of you understand the concept of a knock-knock joke?" line last night, it was both a shame and a blessing. I felt a bit bad for the guy!

"Alright, you've seen the show before! That was my favourite-... and it's the final show!"

But what followed was a hilarious bit of improvisation and it changed things up a bit, especially as Laura the sound engineer proceeded to make his job even harder with the timing of the sound effects that followed. It meant I was able to enjoy the porter scene as much as I did the first time, but like I said, I did feel a bit bad that his favourite line got taken away from him! (It wasn't me who called out, by the way.)

David bloody Tennant:

I've not seen much Shakespeare live (I want to remedy that, I have become completely obsessed), but I can believe people when they say David Tennant is arguably the greatest Shakespearean actor of his time. You can tell he feels and understands completely the meaning behind the words he is saying. He's not just reciting, not just reeling it off. The pauses, the intonations, the passion, sadness, grief, guilt behind every line just shows his deep understanding of the character and his innermost thoughts. On that stage, he is Macbeth.

What's more is you can tell he absolutely delights in it. Anybody who knows anything about DT knows he loves Shakespeare and it is glaringly evident when he is out on stage. He puts everything he has into it and it is wonderful to witness.

He is truly an amazing actor and a treasure and I have been so delighted to watch his career somehow continue to hit new highs of late. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold. As many have said before me, this really is David Tennant's world and the rest of us are just living in it.

The bows:

The reception this group of actors received at the end of the performance was phenomenal and no more than they deserved. Everybody on their feet, whooping, cheering. A lot of noise coming from such a small audience. The cast were both playful and tearful. To see some of the actors get a bit emotional was very touching and I hope that was, at least in part, due to the love and admiration pouring out of us and on to that stage.

An aside:

So I turn up to the theatre and head straight for the toilets on the first floor. There is one person waiting outside them because it's full inside so I wait too. Within moments, out pops DT from a set of double doors right in front of me. He quickly checks if there's anyone in the other set of toilets (there is) and disappears back through the doors again. It's fleeting, and the only other person in the queue is facing the other way and doesn't see. I keep quiet, obviously. It's just over half an hour until the performance is due to start. He's not in costume yet and the man just wants to go to the bathroom. My point is, I've now watched him live on stage in a very small theatre for approximately 7 and a half hours and at no point in that time have I actually concluded that he is real, except in those brief four or five seconds outside the toilets of the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden, when we're just two people who needed a wee.

[vintagestagehotties]

Hot Vintage Stage Actress Round 1

Dame Judith Anderson: Nina Leeds in Strange Interlude (1929 Broadway); Delia Lovell in The Old Maid (1934 Broadway); Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (1937 Old Vic); Medea in Medea (1947 Broadway)

Diana Wynyard: Gilda in Design for Living (1939 West End); Sara Mueller in Watch on the Rhine (1942 West End); Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (1948 Stratford)

Propaganda under the cut

Judith Anderson:

oh she’s so fucking sexy ive never desired a woman more. ma’am please let me worship you and call me a good girl

Diana Wynyard:

this girl fell FIFTEEN FEET during the sleepwalking scene in the scottish play and she just. kept on going. any time i’m nervous before a performance i think about her and she gives me strength cause if she can do that i sure as shit can get through anything that could ever go wrong during a show

[ask-captain-keating]

Good evening, Captain. What's your favorite Shakespeare play?

Anon,

Good evening! What a tough question, I'm obviously quite the fan of Shakespeare, so picking just one is certainly a challenge. I was torn between King Lear and Macbeth for quite a bit, but ultimately I choose Macbeth. I think a lot can be said behind the variety of different portrayals of guilt in the characters, namely Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, obviously. Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking/ hand washing scene is one of my favorites of all time. Plus - love a good play with a layer of superstition in its production!

Best,

John Keating

P.S. Big fan of Hamlet as well! Hamlet and Horatio's relationship is one that admittedly takes up a good chunk of my brain.

[afunfunkytime]

ALABAMA HCS BECAUSE HE'S MY BLORBO AND IT'S HIS BIRTHDAY also I have exams tomorrow lol

its alabamas birthday!

and because he is my blorbo he deserves some hcs

physically incapable of shutting the fuck up. his favourite word is furthermore and he uses it in every sentence he can. every fucking sentence.

mans loves birdwatching, loves birds in general, he dresses up like a stereotypical old birdwatcher in his silly little tweed suit and that silly hat all birdwatchers seem to wear. hes so cute.

^ nicknamed Birdie by sippi because of this

has a massive book of all the bird species he's seen, he tapes pictures into it and writes little descriptions. observes everything. writes little descriptions in his fancy handwriting.

hoe. will throw it back to she thinks my tractors sexy.

enjoyer of tea. has a whole cupboard in his house just for kinds of tea. he and georgia have tea parties very frequently. they consume tiny sandwiches and talk mad shit about the people at bingo club.

nerd.

quotes old literature nobody has ever fucking heard of. quotes old literature in general. he likes to recite lady macbeths sleepwalking soliloquy when he washes his hands.

big fan of the book little women. no i havent read it. it just gives his vibes.

cries at disney movies.

wants to be an astronaut, could probably be an astronaut, probably has the qualifications to be an astronaut. is an elementary school teacher OR a librarian.

THE mom friend. carries a handbag around and nobody says shit about it because he WILL hit you. he has snacks and the answers to everything in there.

floral patterned bedsheets and couches and curtains and wallpaper like hes your grandma.

nothing in his house matches. nothing. he thrifted 90% of his furniture. the other 10% was gifted.

always has a bag of werthers originals in his pockets.

wears knitted sweaters with cats on them and chinos or jorts, a crimson tide shirt, and cowboy boots. nothing else.

addiction to scrapbooking. he has so many scrapbooks it is a genuine problem. they take up a whole bookcase of his bigass beauty and the beast library.

massive sweet tooth. if it ain't 50% sugar he don't want it. addiction to baking.

has maintained a line of sourdough starters since before alaska was a state. very proud of this.

beauty mark on his cheek your honour.

skinny wrists. resident twink of the south. soft thighs and stomach though. he just a lil squishy.

fat ass. honkytonk badonkadonk up in this waffle house. forget the cake, mans a whole bakery back there.

owns two utterly massive dogs called chevy and champ who weigh more than he does and can yeet him. he loves them.

probably a cat lady.

definitely a cat lady.

bama ily happy birthday my blorbo<3

[eucalyptgem]

some notes about the production of macbeth i saw tonight, because it was wonderful!

- The performance was set in the early 1920s, and whilst this didn’t seem to have any effect on the story interpretation, it made for some wonderful costumes and set pieces (I was particularly fond of Lady Macbeth’s pantsuit)

- Banquo was played by a non-binary person, who absolutely killed it! They brought such a tenderness to Banquo’s relationship with Fleance and a genuine, joyful care for Macbeth that was slowly tainted by concern as time went on.

- Speaking of performances, Lady Macbeth was incredible. Also, Lady Macbeth top rights for the win. Straddled Macbeth and pinned him down as soon as he got home and then when he got excited, slapped him in the face (“Your face, my Thane, is a book where men / may read strange matters”) and then just got up and left him on the floor lmaoooo

- Jumping ahead a little but after the Macbeths’ argument post-murder, Macbeth flinching away from Lady Macbeth when she goes to hold his blood covered hands.

- For almost the entire show, the entire cast was on stage. Instead of leaving they would all stand at the edges facing away from the audience. Instead of having the audio cues like screams and knocking in some of the scenes, the cast would simultaneous make these jerky movements to draw the attention. This also made the few times the stage was genuinely empty stand out.

- The whole banquet sequence was incredible, but particularly Macbeth’s manic giggles upon seeing Banquo. Banquo standing stock still for the first half before rushing to grab Macbeth’s face, and then standing right up against him in his second appearance. Macbeth’s actor was absolutely fantastic and when he started scuttling around the stage backwards on all fours whilst yelling like the girl from The Ring i was Very Unnerved.

- Macbeth just… curled in the foetal position for a solid 5 minutes. Same.

- Lady Macbeth KILLED it with the sleepwalking sequence. Love love loved that on the last “come, come, come, come, give me your hand” bit she became considerably gentler and crouched down, beckoning as though to a toddler learning to walk.

- Macduffs gasps and sobs when hearing his family was killed :( really made the “I will feel it like a man” line hit harder

- Macbeth just became entirely, manically insane for the last section. His whole breakdown, including wearing his jacket incredibly weirdly and crawling all over a chair like gollum, was emphasised through the very stark lighting casting his face in shadows.

- When brought the news of the moving forest he FULLY tackled the messenger to the ground and just sort of… enveloped the poor dude? Lying right on top of him

- Also at this point all of the chairs and tables from around the stage were haphazardly stacked in a mess in the corner. Something something the stage physically representing the breakdown of Macbeth’s mind.

- The final duel being with bayonets was a nice touch

overall i had a great time! while i think there could’ve been more done re: interpretation of some of the character dynamics (macbeth and banquo, macduff and malcolm), and some of the musical scoring and fight choreography came off as a bit cheesy, the actors pulled off a wonderful performance

[denimbex1986]

'This feels like a Macbeth for the digital age, one perfectly tailored for fans of its star David Tennant. It’s stylish, evocative – and slightly distancing. But never for a moment can you tear your attention away...

When Tennant’s Macbeth appears on Rosanna Vize’s raised white stage, he is washing the blood of battle away. Behind him, like ghosts, the rest of the cast and three musicians line up behind a glass screen, talking quietly. The headphones let us into secrets. Macbeth has only to whisper his darkest thoughts and we are there, with his vaulting ambition, inside his head. As he talks quietly to Banquo, he is surprisingly sinister.

Cush Jumbo’s Lady Macbeth arrives full of sadness, accompanied by a soundtrack of children laughing – the only English woman in a Scottish court, dressed in white rather than the grey tops and black kilts of the others. This is someone who is clearly already almost unhinged by grief, haunted by a child who has died and Jumbo makes her a remarkable combination of steel and softness.

Meeting Tennant’s conversational Macbeth, she provides the driving force towards murder, fierce to his weakness. Yet as they do their bloody deed, she is struggling to convince herself that “the sleeping and the dead are but as pictures”, while Tennant’s Macbeth has already donned the mask of nihilism that propels him deeper and deeper into blood.

Both performances are wonderfully observed, Jumbo finding nuanced depths that are only hinted at, holding the hand of her lost child in the sleepwalking scene for example. Tennant discovers new meanings in familiar lines, playing on a sardonic sense of weariness as Macbeth hurtles towards his doom.

Director Max Webster stages the whole thing with great flair and makes many intriguing interventions. It is clever, for example, to make the boy who plays Fleance (a serious faced Casper Knopf) also play Macduff’s son and Young Siward; in the second two instances, Macbeth slays him, wrapping him in his arms in a distorted fatherly love, literally killing his hopes. The banquet scene benefits hugely from the fact that Tennant is centre stage throughout; we only hear a suggestion of Banquo...

The final image of the dead butcher lying in a pool of his own blood as the world around him suddenly becomes full of colour and life is another example of the production’s technical inventiveness. This is a cool, studied Macbeth, with a clear view of where it’s headed. It didn’t move me, but in its own chilly way, it strikes deep chords.

****'