The Red King, the Angel and Satan: The Actor's Interpretation for Playing the Role of “Macbeth”

Abstract

         “Macbeth” is the main character in William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, which shows the destruction caused by human delusion and self-deception, or the “foul is fair” perception. Until the person who goes astray learns admit his mistakes and faces the truth, his soul then becomes at peace and is freed from suffering.  However, this message of ​​the play cannot be communicated to the audience if the actor playing “Macbeth” does not understand and agree with the character's actions. This article studies how to solve the acting problem in cases where the author of this article as an actor disagrees with the character “Macbeth” and makes it impossible to portrait this character realistically. The study process involves researching the historical context and religious concepts related to the character “Macbeth” that appears in the play, together with analysis and interpretation of the script, core, and conditions of the character. The study finds that this research process can help the author while working as an actor playing this role interpret such character rendering a logical, realistic, and convincing acting. This practice also helps solve the acting block especially the actor's feeling against his role/character, because the actor can relate to, believe in, and feel the conditions of the character wholeheartedly. When the actor plays his role logically, realistically, and convincingly, his performance will be able to communicate the main idea/message of the play distinctly.  It can also bring about the audiences' sense of empathy which is the main purpose of the tragedy.