Theatre Practitioners: Antonin Artaud

Theatre Practitioner 3:

Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud
Born: 4th September 1896, Marseilles, France
Died: 4th March 1948, Ivry-sur-Seine, France
Influenced by: Balinese Dancers, Karl Marx & Surrealism

Antonin Artaud was a French playwright, poet, actor and director. Although he contracted meningitis and suffered from many psychological disorders, he still left behind an amazing amount of written evidence as manifestos and writings to supply his inheritors with the weapons they needed for the reinvention of theatre.

The Theatre and Its Double
Production of Metaphysics, Theatre and The Plague, Theatre of Cruelty

Metaphysics:

• Expresses situations that have no rational explanation 
• The logical and rational have very little place in his scenarios
• Also contributed to the formulation of Theatre of Cruelty 
• Balinese Dancers 
• The effect of gestures and facial expressions on an audience's unconscious 
• Attached deeper meaning into gestures 
• Appeal to the senses and minds of his audience 
• Wanted the process to be violent in a stimulative sense 
• Lot and His Daughters 
• Visits to the Louvre 
• The painting was described in great detail 
• A moment that had an inherently dramatic meaning
• Explored space and disjointed perspective to unsettle the eye 
• The Marx Brothers 
• Anarchic team 
• Rapid juxtaposition of imagery appealed to him 
• Transformations that provoke a sudden release of laughter 
• Saw laughter as a great liberator 

The Plague:

• Second double 
• Frightening and vivid picture of physical effects of the plague 
• Allegory for theatre 
• Whilst discussing the former he is using it to describe the latter 
• Inevitable collapse of society during the plague as an image to challenge our view of theatre
• Suggested that theatre should be stripped of bourgeois constraints 
• There are no real limits to which theatre can not aspire 

Theatre of Cruelty:

• Third double 
• Combination of the three presences involved in the process of making theatre would become as much a part of us as our bloodstream 
• Envisions a theatre act that awakens, organizes and presents the latent dream images of our minds
• Through stimulation of the physical and emotional senses, the audience was to be maintained in a constant state of uncertainty
• Actor-Audience relationship 
• The vortex
• A circular and shifting shape into which the performers could erupt drawing the audience into total sensory identification with the show
• Single, undivided locale without partitions (The Show)
• Envisaged theatre as some kind of barn or hangar rebuilt along lines culminating in the architecture of some churches
• The sound
• Great emphasis on sound to engage the audience's inner senses 
• Recorded church bells would be amplified from the four corners of the theatre 
• Along with the volumized footsteps, chattering and screams of the audience
• Music and musical instruments were used as mise-en-scene for the vibrations that could be interpreted as different meanings
• The lighting
• In the Cenci, the lighting equipment were sufficiently sophisticated 
• Saw lighting as a force and used it in conjunction with other aspects of staging
• Film
• Noted film actor 
• Tended to be dismissive about film 
• The juxtaposition of live actor and film is an exciting combination
• That contributes to "optic shock"
• In Summary
• The actors and the audience will be joined in one space
• Sound could provide an overwhelming sensory experience 
• Lighting were normally associated with rock concerts 
• Film can shock by its juxtaposition of imagery

The Double:

• Fourth double 
• Reverse of the accepted relationship between art and life 
• Enhanced mirror image 
• Connection between that 'higher form of reality' and Surrealism
• Life will take second place to an absolute and higher form of the real 

The Actors:

• Felt restricted by the bourgeois system
• Introduced the "scream" as a method of relief 
• Sought to include masks and puppets, alongside the actors
• Challengingly large scaled figures 
• Actor's body should be highly trained 
• Breathing and the voice would be important 
• The actor would work with masks and puppets 

Scenarios:

Tried to make every detail as powerful and as meaningful as possible. The choreographed acting, the amplified sound and the extremes of mood created by the lighting all contributed to the overall intention; drawing the audience into the action for an overwhelming sensory experience. There are many unrealized schemes for scenarios, staging is very detailed and such scenarios gave Artaud maximum flexibility as director.