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First Murderer

The Tragedy of Macbeth · 15 speeches across 3 scenes

A desperate, ruthless mercenary hired by Macbeth to kill Banquo and Fleance.

Who they are

Murderer 1 is one of two (or three) assassins Macbeth recruits to eliminate Banquo and his son. He is a hardened man, weary from life's struggles yet willing to risk all to change his fortune. He works closely with the Second Murderer and is briefly suspicious of the Third Murderer. His loyalty is to Macbeth's payment, not to any political cause.

Playing them

Play him with a gritty, world-weary energy—someone who has been crushed by fate but still has violent agency. His voice should be rough, with a hint of dark humor in lines like 'We are men, my liege.' Physicality: tense, coiled, ready to strike. His emotional range moves from cynical desperation to clinical brutality. Tradition often plays him as a lower-class thug, but a more intelligent, calculating take can add depth.

Appearance

Costume suggests a rogue or mercenary—stained leathers, hooded cloak, weapons visible. Grime and hard-worn gear emphasize his status as a man of violence and poverty.

Where they appear

Play First Murderer

Take the part and Yorick reads every other role aloud, following you line by line as you speak.

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Shakespeare the way it was meant to be had — out loud

These plays were written to be performed, not silently read. Yorick is a rehearsal app that lets you perform them: you take a part in any of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, and Yorick reads every other role aloud, listens while you speak your lines, keeps your place, and prompts you the moment you dry.

It is built for the person who has to be off book by tech week — school and college productions, community theatre, festivals, drama students and classical auditions — and for anyone who wants to hear a scene rather than skim it. Alongside the performance you get a plain-English translation of every speech, scene context, performance notes, and the ability to ask about any line and get an answer that already knows the play, the scene and who is speaking.

The text is the public-domain Cambridge/Globe edition. Translations and notes are AI-generated rehearsal aids for actors and students, not a scholarly apparatus. Yorick runs in a browser with nothing to install, and on iPhone and Android.