From Orson Welles to Michael Fassbender: A Study of Macbeth's Soliloquy

From Orson Welles to Michael Fassbender: A Study of Macbeth's Soliloquy, Act 5 Scene 5 "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow"
A collection of actors delivering one of Shakespeare's most important soliloquies, "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow," Act 5 Scene 5 of Macbeth, and also known as "The Sound and the Fury." Included are Orson Welles, Sean Connery, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Paul Scofield, Jeremy Brett, Alan Cumming, John Gielgud, Anthony Sher, Jon Finch, Nicol Williamson, Lars Willets, Michael Fassbender, Joseph Millson. Who do you think delivered it best?

[@johnrobinson4445]

"There would have been a time for such a word...." When?? When, guys, when????? Clearly, the first 'tomorrow' belongs to the end of that sentence. Get it right! Well, a couple of them do, but it's painful watching the rest of them parse that sentence nonsensically. Listen to McKellen's intonation of 'hereafter' and his proper placement of 'tomorrow'. He is the only one who gets it and need not over-act to obscure his ignorance of the text and the moment. Also, please notice the "a" before "time". This conclusively proves that a specific time is indicated, thus it is not mere opinion that the first 'tomorrow' belongs where I say. Shakespeare has himself so directed. That is the purpose of that "a". Think about it. Plus, there is no period there in First Folio. The period comes after the word 'death'. Just sayin' lol

[@tommyvasec5216]

Wow! I am new at Macbeth. When I will interpret this, I will pronounce the first "tomorrow" as the last word of the sentence, because the "a time" means a specific time. Also, I think we shall insist and dwell on the word "and", in "Tomorrow, AND, Tomorrow, AND tomorrow:. Farewell :-) Addendum: Patrick Stewart has is right, that "Tomorrow" at 6:50

[@aexlife]

I find that the word in question is 'dead'. As spoken moments before by Seyton. She should have died the next day, there would have been time to mourn. Then Macbeth proceeds to think about the concept of waiting for the next day or tomorrow where the repetition signifies his sudden understanding that it's all meaningless anyway.

[@andrewkiefer607]

Nicol Williamson gets it.

[@kevincastellanos7607]

a) the first folio wasn’t even written by shakespeare. so we don’t know where the bard himself actually put the periods. b) Mckellen says it like the majority. In his version, there’s a beat between “a word” and the first “tomorrow”, thus beginning a new thought at that first “tomorrow”. c) just because it says “a time” does not mean the specific time is the first “tomorrow”. There’s not enough evidence in the text to deductively or conclusively prove that there is a set way Shakespeare intended it to be said, which leaves it open for interpretation: open interpretation being one of the main elements of Shakespeare’s works that make it timeless and done over and over again.

[@marksieving7925]

When? "Hereafter." Paul Schofield's reading made that clear. "She should have died hereafter. THERE would have been a time for such a word." But, "such a word"? What word? Tomorrow. MacBeth is talking about the death of his future, his tomorrows. He would have no tomorrows, and his life meant nothing.

[@serenity6831]

What's interesting here is that Ian seems to be delivering the performance of a man who knew life was pointless the whole time. It is an empty shell of a man who expected the trickling streams of desire and greed he once felt to be but a futile waste (but maybe at the time he did not want to believe it). Whereas Patrick Stuart delivers a solemn realization, that while we were laughing and gleeful when life seemed to be going our way, death was looming ever near, always ready. Life was never meant to be, and he knows now. "...full of sound and fury signifying nothing."

[@Sarmatae1]

Nobody ever did this like Ian McKellan, but I have to confess: Antony Sher is an actor that gives me a lot of those moments like my team just scored the winning goal.

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

Patrick Stewart’s performance is sheer perfection - full stop.

[@user-en4xk4wt9b]

To achieve sheer perfection in ‘the Scottish play’, he would have needed a Scottish accent. But aside from that, this is indeed about as good as it gets.

[@davidhinton8654]

McKellan’s linkages are masterful. He has considered each word, each “syllable,” recorded time, notwithstanding, and reveals much about MacBeth’s character and his relationship to his Lady. Bravo

[@judebogart]

Totally agree.

[@mysticmouse7261]

Nichol Williamson kills it. The hissing creepiness expresses how dehumanized Macbeth had become. He brings the same supernatural weirdness to the role he played as Merlin in Ex Calibur.

[@barryschwarz]

Yes, I recognized his voice. Not being from the UK I'm not familiar with his work, but that tone and intonation brought Merlin back to me from 25 years hence.

[@jjahastings]

The resent towards time (and more) stands out in his performance. Pure vitriol. I like it!

[@saullandiof5768]

Yeah I think pure resentment is what resonates the most with me in this soliloquy

[@fefiforum]

What does death sound like? A rattle. A hiss. A snuff

[@robrobbins]

I like how the Birdman movie makes this speech a commentary on mundane actions.

[@renshiwu305]

I thought the "Birdman" version was meant to contrast the purity of the art, as revealed by the man's passion, being undercut by the need to solicit approval (his little entreaty at the end). In the movie, Michael Keaton's character goes through a similar process but in reverse: his need for recognition and respect falls by the wayside in the moment of his final stage performance.

[@kevincastellanos7607]

The Birdman version is my favorite rendition, but I know that interpretation wouldn’t work in an actual production of Macbeth. It was more musical than theatrical, but still my favorite.

[@FollettaWinkie]

I feel that Ian McKellen is portraying a creepy, insane, dehumanized Macbeth. Patrick Stewart instead is a lucid, nihilist and deeply human Macbeth. Both are extreme, and so perfect.

[@serenity6831]

Right!

[@valerio1292]

i agree except for the contrast dehumanized vs deeply human. i feel that shakespeare fully integrates bestiality and folly as part of the human nature. that doesn't make him less human. and it's interesting because i would say the creepy version of McKellen is, in that sense, more human that Stewart's.

[@e69alpha]

Look in Ian eyes. It goes from sadness to rage. The cynicism. Magneto was born there

[@judebogart]

McKellen is streets ahead for me.

[@steampunkster2023]

Definitely Ian's interpretation for me, a bit of sorrow, and then accepting his lady's death but with a remorseless apathetic tone. I think at that point in the play, Macbeth has lost his mind, and doesn't care anymore.

[@jcalli66]

Love that last 'Tomorrow' by McKellen 5:05-5:11- it has a hellish, "Groundhogs Day"-esque bent to it where he can see that every remaining moment of his life and future will be meaningless, empty, and unbearable. I would think that those trapped in addiction can certainly empathize with that feeling.

[@Ax18NY]

Orson Welles!

[@gj8683]

Need to consider that we are listening, one after the another, to deliveries of this soliloquy outside of the context, without the tone and texture, that led up to each one. What's more, one tends to distort the experience of the next. It's like tasting a kind of drink, then a different one, and yet another different one, all in short order.

[@RevBoose]

I’d never seen Nicol Williamson do it before. Full of tired rage and empty despair. Same with Brett. Fascinating words, fascinating variety of delivery!

[@serenity6831]

I think the Orson Welles one does it for me in the end. I gotta give it to the director and the person in charge of imagery too. Of course there were many wonderful performances, but his puts me in the seat right next to him, looking at life, tomorrow, and yesterday through the same lens.

[@gb2096]

The director and person responsible for the imagery being... also Orson Welles! :) Very much agree

[@fallinginthed33p]

Denzel Washington's rendering is also a homage to Welles' performance.

[@jennedyjaye]

I appreciate Jeremy Brett's tantrum (13:17); it may seem, in isolation, to be melodramatic, but I feel that it's very much in keeping with his Macbeth's increasing propensity to outpourings of anger as events (and his consequent descent) unfold. Sir Patrick Stewart's delivery (6:15) is, to me, near-perfect. Thanks for compiling and posting this!

[@mysticmouse7261]

I don't agree. Anger has life and energy. Everything in the soliloquy speaks of exhaustion emotional and spiritual.

[@electricdreamer]

14:26 of them all, I like Michael Fassbender version the best. It's amazing how much more natural the performance can be when the actor has something to look at and interact with. The cutaway also helped. It's a luxury that stage plays don't have.

[@UltimateKyuubiFox]

2:22 Nicol Williamson’s is weirdly perfect to me. The pacing is so entrancing. It feels real.

[@johnrobinson4445]

I liked him, too. He is second place after McKellen, for me. At least they both understand how to parse the sentence (first tomorrow belongs with, not separate from, the previous words). Can't bear the others.

[@johncharles2020]

I would pick Ian McKellen for his quite intensity madness yet signs of mourning in his eyes

[@rationalmuscle]

yes, exactly... and a realization that there is nothing real.

[@johnrobinson4445]

Plus the fact that McKellen understands that the first 'tomorrow' is the ending of that sentence, not the artificial-sounding beginning of the next. Always remember: the speech doesn't know it is famous.

[@ruly8153]

I don’t like Mckellens Macbeth To quote Richard Harris “Technically brilliant but passionless

[@timeless_realm]

Stewart without a doubt. McKellen just recites it in front of the camera.

[@agmor1]

@@ruly8153 Harris has got to be the most overrated actor of all time. He was outacted by Rachel Roberts in "This Sporting Life" and he managed to skate on his associations with his drinking buddies, all much better actors.

[@reinadegrillos]

Many are great. McKellen, Cummings, Connery...Thank you for the upload.

[@thedoubtfuls]

Great video montage. The scene is a moment of acknowledged despair, deafened by weariness in war. It begins with cold, pragmatic acceptance of what would otherwise be a moment of great grief: "She should have died hereafter." This line is almost hateful, as is alluded to in what seems almost spitting hate in the words that follow: "creeps in... petty pace...syllable". Then there is a turn to anger: lighted fools...poor player...struts and frets...an idiot". The anger hits a kind of deadened climax with the exclamation of "Out, out, brief candle!" It crucially ends or attempts to end the cold repetitive, dreariness from the Tomorrow line. It is a practical dismissal of the significance of her life, an eviction of grief, to not hurt anymore. "Out" is an aggressive word, hard to say in sadness, and so should be expressed with some aggression. I find many actors do not deal with this line well. Thus: I think Fassbender and Stewart do well with their sense of despair, and do a great job with the Out, Out line. They have a more emotional, romantic take on the scene. Welles falls into this category. I think Finch's sadness at the end of the scene, with its matter of fact even tempo delivery, a little off course, though his portrayal over the course of the film quite excellent. Gielgud is reciting - he reads sympathetically as an observer, not as the one experiencing the emotions. He lacks despair. Brett and Connery, as with others, are far too loudly emotional. Such tend to look at Shakespeare as profound literature rather than realistic humanity. Nicol and Mckellan carry much hate in their portrayals. Nicol's is tampered by a loony air, that has a Scottish vibe, but seems less submerged in the despair of the scene. Mckellan's is tampered by a crack of confusion and deference. I read Macbeth as a hateful but confused man, subservient to principle and King, rather than a hateful, self-satisfied caricature of evil. This makes for a dramatic shift from war hero to villian cum kingslayer - the famous Shakepearean duality. While Mckellan's is pent up rigidity can somewhat strangle the fluidity of the lines, this may be to truest portrayal of the lot.

[@EnglishPsychoTeacher]

Fascinating! Thanks for making and posting this video.

[@oldmanfromscenetwentyfour8164]

I'd like to see how Ian McKellen would play it now, after so many years.

[@poetryqn]

Fascinating - not just the different deliveries, but the staging differences: who envisions the speech pre and mid battle, who sees it happening over the corpse of his wife, etc. I was surprised by Connery's rendition, most moved by Stewart's delivery. And, oh, those voices! I might listen to some of these actors read my grocery list as pure sensory pleasure. Thanks for splicing these all together for easy comparison.

[@MrInterestingthings]

Wonderfully comprehensive ! Amazing how different each really is . There are recordings of other actors besides Gielgud (he is fearsome in this )who were never filmed in this .The other actors each must have there own philosophy and aesthetics about Shakespeare . Each must be respected . We are lucky to have McKellen explain his intelligent interpretation but he is not the only thinking man here .

[@klaus9688]

Alan Cummings, Nicol Wiliamson, Orson Welles are my 3 favourites. Fassbender is also good. Thanks for this fantastic Macbeth compilation. You have made my days with it!

[@evaguthridge99]

I remember seeing the Orson Wells version back in jr.high and I was scared shitless.The Jeremy Brett version is also very good.

[@solstice2318]

Thanks for the compilation! 👍

[@tommyvasec5216]

at 14:58 this is how I like to picture in my head the scene. As the King looks down on the dead body of the Queen and soliloques.

[@roscomeon3965]

Ian McKellen is truly outstanding. Nobody else comes anyway near mastering the speech. Brilliant interpretation of Shakespeare's work.

[@silviaquadrelli2634]

Thank you for this great compilation. My preferred has always been Patrick Stewart , but it is a great opportunity to have all of them together and see how diverse they can be.

[@andresloaiza4707]

It's really crazy how some of this work so well while being so effortless

[@spurs7151]

Jon Finch nails it. Most others put too much emotion into it. Macbeth is an empty shell at this point, suddenly confronted by life's innate meaningless. Stewart's version is also excellent.

[@davidirizarry6216]

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.

[@paulryan2128]

By god, I think you've got it!

[@matthewsheeran]

Orson Welles! Just a great voice only is all that is required! Actors take note: nobody wants to be distracted by your over-acting and facial expressions whilst listening to one of Shakespeare's greatest soliloquies!! And don't plod through it either or any music, poetry, rhythm, he did intend is lost.

[@crossentropy2495]

Great Collection! Thanks!

[@tommyvasec5216]

I know this by heart now. Thanks! :-D I'm a French-Canadian, learning the English language. Using Shakespeare seems a good idea...

[@REALjohnmosesbrowning]

Patrick Steward wins. The tempo, the approach, the seperation, they're all spot on. McKellen is a very close sexond.

[@pocketsocrates6140]

Love some of these. Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Lars Willets are my favourites. Ian McKellen captured the sadness and almost madness in his eyes and slow methodical intonation. Stewart sounds like an old, petrifying shell of a man. Willets like a man clinging to the side of a mammoth cliff side at the side of an abyss - each word drenched in depressed tonality.

[@robertragsdale2447]

I really feel like the subtlety and nuance of Jeremy Brett's deliverance is under appreciated: 13:18

[@TigerPrawn_]

Hahah you comment made me cackle :D

[@yevheniishyshko7961]

You really can't tell if he's mad or he just does not care, can you?

[@danfriend9567]

He stinks

[@Squeaky1423]

Nichol Williamson! What a fantastic actor he was, wow

[@kropchik]

The best!

[@mysticmouse7261]

No question.

[@GalvatronTypeR]

Nicol Williamson's diction and delivery are perfect but his look with the crown askance and his Monty Python mustache and white dude mullet made me laugh.

[@arpitdas4263]

All these actors are just fantastic

[@hpbertin]

Beautifly arranged. Thank you.

[@OneManShakespeare]

I love the Birdman version!

[@QUABLEDISTOCFICKLEPO]

It's Alan Cumming for me. His reading was the most believable and the best by far.

[@laukunst]

Alan Cumming is so under appreciated... Very theatrical nevertheless we are missing his facial expressions.

[@mctaguer]

Oh, I don't know for certain. I will probably re-watch them all several times to be sure. I am fond of Millson's Globe rendition, as I am most of their productions. Welles' is the standard I first encountered as a youth and have always held in high regard, at least as art. Williamson's was interesting--and I hadn't seen it before--although admittedly, I kept expecting him to break into character as Merlin (just kidding). McKellan's is the most haunting/chilling, surely. Great collection; thank you.

[@adrianocastaldini]

McKellen does everything just with one eye. Incredible control of vocal&body expressiveness. IMHO he's on another planet in comparison with the others. (The worst Branagh I've ever seen, and Connery seems empty...)

[@inamorata966]

That Shakespeare, never a soldier (was he?), managed to somehow intuit what terrible things warfare does to a man's mind -- which Macbeth is surely an example -- is a source of constant amazement to me. I'm a retire military man, 67 yo, and I have friends who deal with combat-caused PTSD every day, all more or less successfully (or not). I see them in Macbeth.

[@cecilsays9451]

This is fantastic. Great job!

[@davidian0616]

I am opening another bottle of wine and will remain transfixed on this video till the end of time...

[@curtisdaniel9294]

I don't know about "best," but the three that affected me the most were Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Alan Cumming - his native accent brings a lot to the presentation. It is "that Scottish play" after all. It would be interesting to also have that father/son duo give it in their Original Pronunciation presentations.

[@cs3742]

Nicol Williamson scared me! He did it GREAT!

[@clementine3218]

Jon Finch was a British SAS officer before becoming an actor. He also turned down the James Bond role just as his stardom was taking off.

[@Tabish29]

Its a mystery y he didn't become big

[@pvonberg]

Nicol Williamson and Anthony Sher are best.

[@carlosenriquegonzalez-isla6523]

Excellent compilation. Congrats! Hopefully there will come more

[@HandofOmega]

I'd like to see what Peter Capaldi could do with this speech! Awesome collection, can you please do one for Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy?

[@60sspider-man29]

Oh man that would be good.

[@JenLight]

Ideally, he'd play both characters as Malcolm Tucker.

[@docmalthus]

Nicol Williamson made my blood run cold here....and not for the first time!

[@thefreckledcormarant6431]

Never has the word “and” sounded so terrible, so hateful, as Nicol Williamson says it. That’s Shakespeare’s genius with the English language. Forget fancy adjectives: he confronts us with the sheer, basic existential dread of “and”. Can you name another writer who has done the same?

[@mrguermo1]

Are there more compilations like this? Its a fun and effective way of learning the lines.

[@hollywright3610]

Words were like a tool used to speak of the enduring suffering of mortal man and his Ego.

[@NostalgiNorden]

8:14 Did the channel creator try to sneak in a clip from his best friends crappy showeel among all these great preformances?

[@nonnobissolum]

Nailed it! Old Lars is probably well into his career as a barista by now. Blech. Might stand on its own, but putting it between all these legends....like throwing down a two day old grilled cheese sandwich in the middle of some glorious gourmet buffet.

[@SuperTonyony]

@@nonnobissolum Oh, snap!

[@new-dystopia]

I'm pretty sure in his rendition it's his cellphone battery which has died and led him to melancholy.

[@genetenz]

So fucking shit

[@prasantbanerjee8199]

The best renderings of the famous lines, to me, are by Sir Jon Gielgud, Sir Ian McKellen, and Sir Patrick Stewart. Anthony Sher is very good, too.

[@Paulkazey1]

Orson Welles is fantastic.

[@DukeVanDerVocal]

I expected to like Ian McKellen or Patrick Stewart or John Guilgood or Fassbender. But, Joseph Millson and Alan Cumming nailed it. They were exceptional.

[@gianfrancorenda7090]

Ian McKellen ! But Patrick Stewart is so human and sweet, full of the milk of hunan kindness...

[@pouriashahbazi]

John Gielgud, Orson Welles, Ian Mckellen...

[@winkie3331]

god orson welles looks like that old viner casey frey and i nearly had a heart attack

[@kropchik]

Nicol Williamson most convincing: virtuosically realistic.

[@samsonpug]

Stewart’s nothing is chilling. No point in having a favourite. It signifies nothing.

[@IdolsHextech]

Was surprised by Alan Cummings

[@chiemekanwaogwugwu9995]

What, Sean Connery as Macbeth? I didn't know that.

[@atthebridge]

The "life's but a poor player..." line is interesting to me. Shakespeare of course expected his work to be performed in front of a raucous live audience and liked to drop little references to this into his plays. Of course this would now be called 'breaking the fourth wall' or 'Brechtian alienation' if you're more politically minded. For that reason I suspect that the line is intended to briefly break the tension, maybe getting a subdued guffaw from some of the spectators, before the rest of the speech hits you like a hammer. But I notice none of the actors ever go for this.

[@b5b6y]

Scottish Orson Welles: Tomato... And tomato... And tomato.

[@dizbang3073]

I liked the Jon Finch version best.

[@lizc6393]

It has my favorite blocking. I think the voice over was actually an excellent choice for a film performance.

[@thethikboy]

Nicol Williamson kills it. So sinister - so mad.

[@fallinginthed33p]

John Finch and Nicol Williamson were both in Excalibur, weren't they?

[@maybebabyny]

Stewart wins this.

[@CFB0910]

Nicol Williamson Ian McKellen Alan Cumming

[@AdeleC472]

But you forgot Michael Jayston's Macbeth, he is my favourite Macbeth because he never overacts. The play is from 1970, it is on YT.

[@thegloriousmoodman2152]

nice one to end on.

[@gamers7800]

JON FINCH Hands down! All the others pale in comparison.

[@Bogframe]

I think Allan Cummings nailed it

[@nobodydoesithalfasgoodasyou]

It's a shame he snorted like a hog whilst trilling the R in creeps, at least in this performance

[@dr_jamie_ranger]

Uh...are we all going to ignore that there is a random nobody doing a long, self-indulgent version in the middle of this long list of greats?

[@genetenz]

I'm with you. So shit

[@scrapbus9681]

What's striking about it is how jangly it is. Actually useful as a contrast between amazing acting and 'acting'.

[@williamlarochelle6833]

I thought Welles, Williamson, & Brett were too much / Willets, fair / not sure about Cumming / Connery, Finch, McKellan, Stewart, Sher, Fassbender, Gielgud, Scofiel, all good / Millson, very good / "Birdman" was a scream!🤣 I didn't like how any of them said, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow."

[@jeromebosch4057]

Alan Cumming for me, but they are all exceptional, except the ones that just recite the lines without inhabiting them...

[@mmorseca]

A lot to be said for Jeremy Brett. M is about to face the battle of his life, and is terrified and enraged. The death of his queen forces a desperate reflection on him--but not one that can be calm and stately.

[@dalegendcraft3504]

Who is the guy in the thumbnail? Please answer

[@DarwinDayanSF]

Joseph Millson

[@dalegendcraft3504]

@@DarwinDayanSF Thanks

[@charlesmclaughlin4444]

Nicol for me, he nails it.

[@lizc6393]

Agreed. Underrated and absolutely masterful.

[@COM70]

A delicious banquet of desserts.

[@christopher0530]

Sean Connery crushed it. I could hear and see his pause between "...here after" and "tomorrow" . Connecting the first tomorrow to the thought "hereafter" without pause to make it a second line like all the other great actors did, but was only a fat coma while his mind was filled with all the introspection within a split second that we all have about the meaning or revelation loss of anything, of everything, and the futility of what he just said, the futility of any other time being better, and the deluded thought that there is ever a better time, that there is any point to striving , only for our acts to all end uncerimoniously, and then be forgotten, and with forgetting and time marching on, so fades meaning. So he vocalises this revelation in mocking repetition of the further two "tomorrows". My other favorite part that Connery plays head and shoulders above the rest is his spitting out "signifying nothing"...and..overall his timing, pace, Scottish accent, are perfect to express the self mocking, irony, grief as he clearly examins himself in this soliloque

[@jonn.5568]

Anthony Sher rules.

[@nate1066pollock]

Ian McKellan does it best. I think most actors tend to go a bit far with this speech. He has a pained restraint to his.

[@ixman]

Given what MacBeth has become at this point, Ian flat nails it.

[@stylusfantasticus]

Brett

[@RichMitch]

McKellen every time

[@FrothingFanboy]

Gielgud. Straight ahead, no "acting".

[@davecurtis602]

Lars Willets? that was awful.

[@ewie9347]

Who delivered it best? Difficult to pick one, make it three: McKellen (mad grief), Stewart (sad grief), Millson (handsome grief).

[@neptunestardust]

Brett (Loud grief) 😂

[@nobodydoesithalfasgoodasyou]

Anyone doing grief has failed. Macbeth is not in grief, he's empty, indifferent, dead himself.

[@stevena3333]

“She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word, To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 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”.

[@mhiguelhorta]

Wow!