The Royal Shakespeare Company’s MacBeth

I recently watched the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2010 production of Macbeth on Amazon Prime starring Patrick Stewart. The play is set in surreal version of World War II Russia, employing a vaguely Stalanist motif. It’s a version of the play that’s dark, intense and very claustrophobic. in other words, excellent.

It’s been some time since I really engaged with Shakespeare and I found it really helpful to watch the play with the closed captions on. It made following the subtleties and beauty of the writing a lot easier. Afterward I went online and brushed up a bit on the history and interpretations of the play (including it’s reputation as cursed play, which I’ll write about later) and came across a wonderful site called No Sweat Shakespeare.

When I was first reading shakespeare as teenager I would have eaten up a resource like this. At the time I had Coles Notes (Cliff Notes in America) to help me understand the plays,  along with the somewhat mediocre help of teachers. But I certainly didn’t have anything of this caliber. No Sweat Shakespeare features plays and even specific soliloquys written out in modern language that help really drive home the meaning and artistry behind the words:

Spoken by Macbeth, Macbeth Act 5 Scene 5
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

“Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow” Soliloquy Translation:
How the days stretched out – each one the same as the one before, and they would continue to do so, tediously, until the end of history. And every day we have lived has been the last day of some other fool’s life, each day a dot of candle-light showing him the way to his death-bed. Blow the short candle out: life was no more than a walking shadow – a poor actor – who goes through all the emotions in one hour on the stage and then bows out. It was a story told by an idiot, full of noise and passion, but meaningless.

I stayed up late by myself on Thursday night, had a slow, strong drink and watched an episode of Cosmos. I had a great a time losing myself in the music, the writing and the tone of wonder that’s so real in every sentence Carl sagan reads.
Carl sagan was truly a visionary. And he was kind enough to share those visions with the rest of the world through teaching, books and television appearances.

If you stop and think about it, It’s so amazing that, through the power of science and technology, we’re still able to spend time with him, even decades after he left us.