The Theatre of Cruelty

"Theatre of Cruelty" being Antonin Artaud's encapsulating approach to theatre, it would be wise to analyse this revolutionary, once experimental style of theatre. Artaud was attempting basically to transcend the human condition through a complex combination of techniques designed to create metaphysical states for every kind of dramatic device used onstage. Improvisation being a basis for most of the style of his productions, meant more pressure was placed upon the actor to create this transcendent form of language, expression and gesture without prior notice. The mere idea that productions were not to be based on text, implicates that the performances were more in touch with the emotion behind the piece. Antonin's first manifesto states that there are to be no illusions of life that merely cater to the various tastes of the audience; portrayal, is not to be illusionary, but internal. To further this idea of internal portrayal, no actual set was used in this style of theatre. Set was simply replaced by statuesque characters in ritualistic costume, creating strong elements of symbolism.

Cruelty was a key element, Artaud even postulated that cruelty must be the root of every performance, or the theatre is not possible. In this style of theatre, it must reassert the totality of existence, that is, the external objectification of life and ther internal transcendent consideration of the being that is am, both spiritually and intellectually. Antonin also speaks of the similarity of dreams to theatre and their crucial importance to this notion of "perpetual conflict." Artaud also idealised that the spectacle, i.e. His performances were to contain objective or physical elements that are perceivable to the wider society, in conjunction with the harmony of music and the ritualistic costumes/objects. Another crucial aspect of the Theatre of Cruelty is the relationship of audience to the actor, Antonin desired his audiences to be in the centre of his play, being swallowed by the performance, thereby bringing the audience into direct contact with the dangers of life. Artaud's exposure to the Balinese dance meant an incorporation of movement into this particular theatre style. Overall, the Theatre of Cruelty is a complex combination of surrealism, symbolism, cruelty (the meaning of cruelty changed over the course of Artaud's life) and improvisation.

Cheers xx

Tendencies
-Artaud was born in 1896 and died in poverty and insane in the year 1948
-Since his death his imaginative ideas have impacted modern theatre through metaphysical creations that provide an altered perception of reality (i.e. Surrealism)
-"Theatre of Cruelty" is Artaud's style and most infamous and impacting style
-Artaud saw theatre as a reflection of the real world, thereby making it possible to alter the wider society through his performances.
-If civilisation was sick, then the theatre reflected it, both must change in order for society to have the capacity to develop any further.

Technique
-Visual poetry using stylised movement combined with music and different sound effects all used either harmonically or discordantly to assist in the communication of morals in the piece.
-Assaulting the sense, Artaud wanted his Theatre to hypnotise viewers, like a snake charmer, so that the audience (now in a trance like state) could be shocked into confronting themselves, their preceptions of reality, their ways of life and the meaning and the mystery of existence. To do this an "assault" on the senses was embarked upon, using lights, music, all technical elements, in much the same way modern rock concerts do.
-Creating a dream world, through an intricate and complex use of masks, ritualisitic objects, notion of symbolistic value attached to costume and tradition. In an attempt to remove the audience from their lives and place them in an unfamiliar world of surrealistic rituals, Artaud combined all technical elements of the performance in addition to the actors themselves.
-The notion that the audience should be englufed by this world meant, Artaud desired to place his audience in the 'centre of the action' as so have them being physically and emotionally effected by the events taking place around them.
-Deliberate Cruelty, not physical cruelty that draws blood but an attack on the audience in an emotional context, with the intent of making them feel pulverised, uneasy and drained.

-Improvisation, there were to be no scripts, nor false, forced representations of the human psyche, but rather improvise and build on themes of power philosophical significance.

Take a look at the fantastic items below, for a more bibliographical + indepth analysis of Artaud

Cheers xx

You Require a partner to do this exercise

-Stand about arms length proximity away from your partner.
-Have both you and your partner "hum" and have both of you close your eyes
-Focus on the energy that you are omitting (noise)
-Focus heavily on the energy that you can feel your parnter omitting (noise)
N.B. Before you and your parnter have begun tis exercise both of you must have agreed upon a movement, i.e. raising your arms, lifting a leg, something fairly basic that will not distract you.
-Continue to "hum" and focus on the energy, and when the moment feels right, perform the basic action that the both of you have agree upon.
-The idea is that your action will create a mirror image of your partner
-Continue to "hum" when you feel the desire, perform the movement constantly focusing on the energy that one can feel from your partner (You should be able to feel a shift)
-Open your eyes.

Questions to Ask
How did you feel?
Did you and your partner manage to create a mirror image?
What thoughts came into your head?
Was the "humming" monotonous or harmonious
Did you have a heightened sense of the spiritual or ritual when engaged in this exercise?

N.B. This exercise works best with numerous amount of people in the room to build the tension and sound of the "humming." Try to keep as foscused as possible and never break them "hum." This exercise should heighten your sense of what is ritual and make you fully aware of the spiritual and the complex connection that exists between two beings when connected by only energy."

Remember To Have Fun!! xx

Artaud, displaying the strong notion of total theatre, that is encapsulating the audience in the entirety of the performance, meaning that his actors could not simply remain detached from the symbolism being portrayed. This meant that the performance had to incorporate aspects not only of, dialogue, emotion, character and ritual, but expression.

This dynamic form of expression was attempting to create, (for the most part) "a metaphysics of speech, gesture and expression, in order to rescue it from it's servitude to psychology and 'human interest.'" (As stated by Artaud himself in Theatre and it's Double).

Expression in this sense was postulated to be that which is a physical interpretation of a notion or moray portrayed through the use of, Voice, Movement, Rhythm and Harmony.
Artaud spoke of the language of his theatre, not, technical language, but a language that exists half way on the metaphorical plane, between gesture and thought. That is, a language to combine, movement, rhythm, ritual, pantomime, mimicry, harmony, music, dance and sheer unadulterated emotion.
A lack of dialogue is implicated by the strong elements of symbolism and metaphor that exist in the language of the theatre of cruelty, meaning that there are strong elements of Voice, Movement and Harmony in the pieces of Artaud's creation. Voice being grunts, noises that had the capacity to portray emotion or even movement through simply the sounds they created, dialogue was of the least importance.

Using the same notion of the language of the theatre of Cruelty Artaud stated that the elements combined to create this language, had to exist in complete harmony and ratio. Otherwise overpowering the audience with one particular art from, thereby allowing the Theatre of Cruelty to be applicable to numerous social moray's.

Movement was not restricted to rhythmic style, discordant erratic gestures can be used just as effectively to portray the same symbol. In keeping with the (misinterpreted might I add) Balinese Dance theatre style, movement was used to bring to the stage aspects of the metaphysical, and attempt to create temptations that surround these same notions.

The emphasis is placed on totality of the theatre, that is the theatre as a whole. One cannot attempt to digest one aspect without attempting to ingest the entirety of the production. This is due to the inseparable bond that exist between the language of theatre, its expression, the technical aspects and everything that is used to create the aspect of symbolism and ritual.

Artaud's theatre by nature was strongly linked with ritual and in particular religious symbolism. Regarding his use of religious symbolism one only has to gaze at the poem we read earlier, Artaud talks about how his body will shatter into a million pieces before reforming into a being that will not be forgotten, is incredibly similar to statements made by none other than Jesus. Artaud talked on the outlay of his ideal theatre, incorporating more elements of religious ritual. Using this ideology, "abandoning the architecture of present-day theatres, we shall take some hangar or barn, which we shall have re-constructed according to processes which have culminated in the architecture of certain churches or holy places, and of certain temples in Tibet."

Ritual in the repetitive sense for example, the ritual of a typical day was used to lull the audience into a dream world. Using the repetition of action meant the audience was taken away from the reality of life into a place where Artaud's theatre had the capacity to shatter these false perceptions of reality and the social moray's that come with them. Which is an important ideology that will be present when Ashleigh speaks on the Attack on the senses.

This notion of the ritual, involved, objects, movement, voice, music and light. Masks were of also particular importance to create a sense of lifelessness amongst certain actors. Mask could also evoke elements of energy and as Artaud was building on philosophical ideologies the idea of the mask that people wear in order to face society and pain. Artaud speaks briefly on the objects he uses to create the imagery for the ritual
"Manikins, enormous masks objects of strange proportions will appear with the sanction as verbal images, will enforce the concrete aspect of every image and every expression."
"%u2026Objects that require stereotyped representation will be discarded or disguised."
Looking back on the previous aspects of our performance, the evidence of the ritual and stylised movement is evident. The ritual of moving toward the centre figure, holding her, making a sound, before moving swiftly away. The stylised movement in keeping as close to the ground as possible in the later stages and the constant attachment involving the three different figures and the centre figure.

Before I leave you all, I would merely have you ask yourself. What are some of the perceptions of reality that you believe. Then ask yourself in all honesty, are they actually intellectually applicable to your life?