Antontin Artaud

Theatre of Cruelty

Artauds Theatre
Alternative theatre spaces
Audience at the centre of the action Audience trapped and powerless A sensory experience No boundaries between actor and audience Full musical scores used Recorded sound used at full volume

Sophisticated lighting effects

The auditorium will be enclosed within four walls, stripped of any ornament, with the audience seated below, in the middle, on swivelling chairs, allowing them to follow the show taking place around them. [T& ID, 1985. p.75]

Language
Based on signs, not dialogue Anti character Extended means of communication Speech replaced by sound patterns Surreal

Phonetic Poem (1917) Hugo Ball

KARAWANE jolifanto bambla o falli bambla

hej tatta gorem

eschige zunbada wulubu ssubudu uluw ssubudu tumba ba umf kusagauma ba umf

grossiga mpfa habla horem

egiga goramen higo bloiko russula huju hollaka hollaka anlogo bung blago bung blago bung bosso fataka u uu u schampa wulla wussa olobo

[Waldberg, P., Surrealism, 1965]

Darkness. Explosions in the Dark. Harmonies cut short. Raw sounds. Sound blurring. The music gives the impression of a far-off cataclysm; it envelops the theatre, falling as if from a vertiginous height. Chords are stuck in the sky; they dissipate, going from on extreme to the other. Sounds fall as if from a great height, stop short and spread out in arcs, forming vaults and parasols. Tiered sounds.

There is no more firmament

Beginnings of glimmers that change continually, passing from red to harsh pink, from silver to green, turn white; suddenly boundless, opaque, yellow light, the colour of dirty fog or the Simoon

Street cried. Various voices. An infernal racket. When one sound stands out, the others fade into the background accordingly

A hysterical woman wails, makes as if to undress. A child cries with huge, terrible sobs

Sudden stop. Everything starts again. Everyone takes his place again as if nothing had happened. [Artaud, A., Collected works]

Ritual
Influenced by Balinese Dancers

Appeals primarily to the senses

A ritual generally takes the form of repeating a pattern of words and gestures which tend to excite us above a normal state of mind. Once this state of mind is induced we are receptive and suggestible and ready for the climax of the rite. At the climax the essential nature of something is changed. [Ann Jellicoe, quoted in Innes. P. 219]

Definition of real play

A real stage play upsets our tranquillity, releases our repressed subconscious, drives us to a kind of potential rebellion.
[T&ID, 1985. p.19]

The Theatre of Cruelty

Connection between director, actor and spectator Against conventional theatre spaces

Opposed to the representation of real life

Creation of a new language Use of emotion

Myth, ritual and well-known tales

Shock

Fairy Tale Task

Choose a well-known fairy tale and perform it in the
style of Theatre of Cruelty. Ensure you address as many of Artaud's staging and acting techniques as possible.

Select a fairy tale/nursery rhyme with a particularly

gentle storyline, so as to challenge yourselves with the method of presentation. Some suggestions include: Cinderella, Snow White, Ugly Duckling, Peter Pan.

Before you start, decide what is the intended message?

Make sure you write your message (must be one sentence or less) on sugar paper.

Your Performance should include:

grotesque / disturbing movements, loud sound intense, colourful stage lighting

effective use of screams, moans and chanting

a tableau showing the climax point of the scene experiment with body posture trying to make the scene as weird and sinister as possible.

Your Performance should include:

Connection between director, actor and spectator Against conventional theatre spaces

Opposed to the representation of real life

Creation of a new language Use of emotion

Myth, ritual and well-known tales

Shock