Why we love to play bad

Laura Giknis as a first-grade teacher, Ian Merrill Peakes as Miss Trunchbull, and Jemma Bleu Greenbaum (far right) in the Walnut Street Theatre production of the musical "Matilda." (Mark Garvin)

In general, being evil is frowned upon in civilised society. There is a very good reason why the very worst of humanity gets ostracised and imprisoned as punishment for evil deeds and toe-curling crimes. An understanding of what is bad and what is good underpins civilisation itself. Without it, chaos would reign. Think Mad Max, or The Purge.

However, there is one place where our natural aversion to evil seems to wane slightly – the theatre.

Let me explain.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of evil characters. Firstly, you have intentionally over-the-top, comedic villains who the audience loves to hate when in reality there is a good chance that the baddy is their favorite character. Sure, panto villains do bad stuff, but they do it in such an absurd context that the evil kind of loses its bite.

Everyone knows that they are the antagonist and we all boo and hiss to fulfill our sacred role as audience members, but in truth, we love to see evil presented in such a light-hearted and unthreatening way. It’s almost comforting to see the bad qualities of the world presented in such an accessible and enjoyable way. Perhaps it momentarily tricks us into thinking that’s all evil is – questionable morals wrapped up in cheesy jokes and a sequined costume.

The second kind of evil character is less fun, I’m afraid. Beyond the realms of musicals, comedies, and pantomimes, there exists a theatrical plane of sincerity and intensity, forever holding up a mirror to the cracks in society, forcing us to see what we often would rather overlook. I am speaking, of course, of drama.

One of the fundamental components of drama is the presence of an antagonist. Technically, all stories need a ‘bad guy’, but drama is slightly different in that, more often than not, it requires antagonists that are categorically disliked by audiences, at least to begin with. No jokes, no larger-than-life characterization, no brightly colored tunics, these are evil characters that so often look just like you and me. The things they do are not funny.

There is no joke to be found. They do bad things and we, the audience, hate them for it. They make us uncomfortable, they make us squirm in our seats, they show us a side of humanity that we try desperately to avoid thinking about. They are not villains so much, not in the Disney sense, rather they are just bad people, the kind you can imagine actually existing. Is there anything scarier?

Naturally, theatre is a broad church and the vague parameters set out above will not apply to all plays or types of production. In general, though, we have enough to go on to ask one of the most perplexing questions in all of theatre. It’s a question many have asked and one which I am probably not qualified to answer, but I will try anyway.

Why do we like to play evil characters?

The fun ones

Well, firstly let’s deal with the first kind of evil character. This, at least, has an easy answer. Disney and panto style villains are fun to play because… well, because they actually are fun. The characters are written in such a way as to be likable even in their most evil moments. Hades in Disney’s ‘Hercules’ is a firm internet favorite from the film, despite being its main antagonist. King George and Arron Burr, both antagonists from the blockbusting musical ‘Hamilton’, are both also regularly cited as favorite characters by theatergoers. These kinds of roles are fun because they allow actors to be bad in an enjoyable, soft, insincere way. Sure, they do and say bad things, but they do so with none of the bite of real-world evildoing. They allow us actors to enjoy being bad, and to goad the audience into disliking us, whilst also charming them into secretly loving us. It’s quite a balance to strike, but when you do, there are few more satisfying achievements in theatre.

The truly evil ones

Hannibal Lecter. Richard III. Norman Bates.  These are characters who shake audiences to their core. They make our skin crawl. They tie knots in our stomachs. They make us want to run away and hide. There are no charming qualities underscoring insincere villainy. These characters are genuinely evil.

As far as I can tell, the kind of evil that most unnerves audiences is the kind that most closely reflects the worst of what humans are actually capable of in the real world. Supernatural horror loses some of its power in the very fact that it is supernatural. The things that most terrify us are honest, truthful performances showing us the very worst of humanity. The kind of evil that we know is out there walking the streets, but which we try not to think about.

Surprisingly, these kinds of characters are also in fairly high demand amongst actors. Terrible, evil, vicious characters seem to draw actors in despite the challenges of undertaking such roles. The history of theatre is awash with stories of actors who threw themselves into evil characters and emerged never quite the same as they were before. Such acting clearly takes its toll on a person. Pretending to be all the things you spend your life trying not to be, the things you were taught from day one were bad, can’t be easy.

They say that good acting is based in truth, that actors must build their characters around some grain of reality. If this is true, then even the most monstrous of roles must also be built upon a foundation of reality. Actors must tap into the very darkest corners of their souls and draw out the darkness for use on stage, all the while ensuring that they maintain control and are not lost to the torments of their own minds.

I know I’ve made it sound dramatic, but in truth, I think it probably is. We all have good and bad inside of us, this principle has been a basic tenant of philosophies and religions for thousands of years. Most of us spend our lives trying to feed the good parts of ourselves, beating back the darkness in our minds so that we can live happily and make those around us happy. But taking on evil roles allows actors to willingly give up that fight, only briefly, and investigate the darker parts of themselves which they usually keep hidden. What they find they can then channel into incredible performances, expressing what evil they have inside them in a safe and controlled environment, before putting it all back in its cage when the curtain falls.

I suspect roles like these are popular because they offer a kind of catharsis, a kind of self-discovery, that is difficult to find anywhere else. The chance to truly look your evil parts in the eye and then beat them back into submission at the end of every performance is pretty much unique amongst actors. Not to mention the sheer emotion, raw and untampered, which such a process must release, and which can them be directed into world-shattering performances. In short, playing evil characters can teach us a lot about ourselves.

Some people never recover from playing truly abominable characters. The strain on their minds takes its toll. Others emerge with a newfound level of understanding, both of themselves and the world around them. Either way, it is clear that taking on such roles has powerful effects on performers.

In the end, we love to play fun bad characters because they give us leave to do and say things we never would in reality, but we play truly evil characters because they allow us to peer into parts of ourselves that we otherwise keep hidden from view.