There’s an immersive dance theater production in NYC called “Sleep No More,” based on Macbeth. The overall tone of the show is incredibly dark (both literally and figuratively) and tense, and in that version, Macbeth is actually the one to kill Banquo himself. Then at the banquet scene, the actual dancer who plays Banquo walks across the stage and sits down at the banquet table absolutely COVERED in blood (and the whole banquet scene is performed in slow motion. It’s very cool). Definitely less up to the audience’s interpretation in this rendition, but it’s such a powerful moment and I couldn’t imagine it performed any other way
I'm reminded, for some reason, of Mario Bava's 'Hatchet for the Honeymoon', in which (spoilers for a 55-year-old movie!) a character punishes her murderer by appearing as though still alive to *other* people while remaining invisible to him.
I like your link between Banquo's ghost and It Follows. It seems the relentlessness of supernatural agents is especially something that modern cinema has latched onto (The Ring, Final Destination). Though I'm also reminded of a short story by Orson Scott Card - "Eumenides in the Fourth-Floor Lavoratory"! - that uses the same theme of inexorability by transposing the Greek Fates into a modern setting.
Anyway, very enjoyable! I'm more of a Shakespeare fan than a horror buff (I'm too much of a wimp), but I'll mention your Substack to my daughter, who loves all the stuff I'm too cowardly to watch!
Definitely - Final Destination has such an interesting premise, I was reading about how it started life as an X-files episode. I'll have to check out that short story! My substack is definitely quite a niche crossover of interests, but I love finding just the right audience, thank you!
Great analysis. I'm absolutely capable of imagining far worse things than any director/film maker can show me, so I usually like it when they leave it to my grisly imagination. I like very much the idea of the hand coming up from the dinner table, though - I wish I'd seen that production.
My book club just read Conrad's The Secret Agent and we discussed why he chose not to depict the actual detonation of the bomb at the centre of the story. There too I think the details described by peripheral characters afterwards ('we had to use a shovel') were far more impactful than a straightforward dramatisation would have been.
Rebekah, your exploration of Banquo’s ghost in Macbeth is fantastic, especially when you note how Lucy Bailey’s production had Banquo “bursting up through the table itself.” The vivid image of hands emerging between plates is chilling. Modern insights to a classic, brilliant.
This may be my age-addled brain, but isn't there also the theory that Macbeth not only arranges Banquo's murder, but also takes part? I seem to recall that in some productions he's the mysterious Third Murderer, but don't think I've ever seen it myself.
That’s very cool, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that done. It does seem like something he’d want to delegate but it would be a fascinating interpretation
Yeah, I don't think it's quite supported by the text, but directors will be doing their directing. In the '83, it's Macbeth's servant, which makes more sense.
Are you into dance and/or theater at all?
There’s an immersive dance theater production in NYC called “Sleep No More,” based on Macbeth. The overall tone of the show is incredibly dark (both literally and figuratively) and tense, and in that version, Macbeth is actually the one to kill Banquo himself. Then at the banquet scene, the actual dancer who plays Banquo walks across the stage and sits down at the banquet table absolutely COVERED in blood (and the whole banquet scene is performed in slow motion. It’s very cool). Definitely less up to the audience’s interpretation in this rendition, but it’s such a powerful moment and I couldn’t imagine it performed any other way
I'm reminded, for some reason, of Mario Bava's 'Hatchet for the Honeymoon', in which (spoilers for a 55-year-old movie!) a character punishes her murderer by appearing as though still alive to *other* people while remaining invisible to him.
Nice! I think I referenced Hatched for the Honeymoon in one of my Wallace & Gromit horror moments. Bava is good fun
I like your link between Banquo's ghost and It Follows. It seems the relentlessness of supernatural agents is especially something that modern cinema has latched onto (The Ring, Final Destination). Though I'm also reminded of a short story by Orson Scott Card - "Eumenides in the Fourth-Floor Lavoratory"! - that uses the same theme of inexorability by transposing the Greek Fates into a modern setting.
Anyway, very enjoyable! I'm more of a Shakespeare fan than a horror buff (I'm too much of a wimp), but I'll mention your Substack to my daughter, who loves all the stuff I'm too cowardly to watch!
Definitely - Final Destination has such an interesting premise, I was reading about how it started life as an X-files episode. I'll have to check out that short story! My substack is definitely quite a niche crossover of interests, but I love finding just the right audience, thank you!
I didn't know that about the X Files episode! I used to love that show.
Great analysis. I'm absolutely capable of imagining far worse things than any director/film maker can show me, so I usually like it when they leave it to my grisly imagination. I like very much the idea of the hand coming up from the dinner table, though - I wish I'd seen that production.
My book club just read Conrad's The Secret Agent and we discussed why he chose not to depict the actual detonation of the bomb at the centre of the story. There too I think the details described by peripheral characters afterwards ('we had to use a shovel') were far more impactful than a straightforward dramatisation would have been.
Wow how fascinating, I can imagine that that works brilliantly. Another one to add to my list of great recommendations from substack!
Rebekah, your exploration of Banquo’s ghost in Macbeth is fantastic, especially when you note how Lucy Bailey’s production had Banquo “bursting up through the table itself.” The vivid image of hands emerging between plates is chilling. Modern insights to a classic, brilliant.
This may be my age-addled brain, but isn't there also the theory that Macbeth not only arranges Banquo's murder, but also takes part? I seem to recall that in some productions he's the mysterious Third Murderer, but don't think I've ever seen it myself.
That’s very cool, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that done. It does seem like something he’d want to delegate but it would be a fascinating interpretation
Yeah, I don't think it's quite supported by the text, but directors will be doing their directing. In the '83, it's Macbeth's servant, which makes more sense.
‘directors will be doing their directing’ is a great line