Research and Information on Antonin Artaud 05/01/16

Antonin Artaud

•  was a French dramatist, poet, actor and practitioner 

•  was born on 4th September 1896 in France

•  he suffered from bouts of severe depression

•  he grew up in WWI so witnessed first-hand its effects

• came up with the theory ‘man is a savage’

•  strongly believed in actors physical potential

- that words aren't enough to really mean something

He said ‘man must be put into extreme situation to expose their true nature and this is what he tried to portray in his theatre. Artaud wanted to batter the mind in to submission so that we wouldn't have to read so much into it.

What Artaud believed:

-that there should be a type of theatre that pushes the boundaries


Theatre of cruelty:

Artaud mainly believed in looking at things that are beyond society and how we are taught to do things in it. Because he was mentally ill, he had a pessimistic view on humanity. He believed that humanity does not ever change no matter what background or upbringing; everyone is the same. He believed that when you overturn the rules of society all people will do extraordinary things because law and order would not exist. However, in his opinion theatre is a safe way to expose these things; it shows that bad things can and do happen. He said theatre should express modern life and universal concerns.

-that his theatre should bring the audience as close as possible to the performance in order to expose what society’s ills are.

He created two types of theatre:

-'Strictness, diligence, unrelenting decisiveness and irreversible determination'

-normally plays on the audiences senses via smell, sounds and imagery

-e.g. A play written by Artaud Les Cenci

·         Total theatre:

-the heightened means in which we can achieve things on a stage combing all elements on theatre.