The ins and out of Antonin Artaud

1. THEATRE OFTHEATRE OF
CRUELTYCRUELTY

2. Was a French playwright, poet,
actor and theatre director.
Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud

3. Antonin Artaud
He was one of nineHe was one of nine
children with only himchildren with only him
and his sister survivingand his sister surviving
after an Early birth.after an Early birth.
Died March 4Died March 4thth
19481948
Born September 4Born September 4thth
18961896

4. Antonin’s lifeAntonin’s life
before his famebefore his fame

5. When Artaud what only 4 years old he was diagnosed with
meningitis it was such a severe case that it resulted to him
having miserable temperament throughout his teen years.
Who also suffered from stuttering
and severe cases off depression
In his teen years he started using
Opium for his depression which
resulted in an addiction
When Artaud was 15 his parents put
him through several sanitarium stays
to deal with his extreme
temperamentThese stays were very long and
expensive which lasted 5 years with a
2month break in-between each one.

6. In the June of 1916, when Artaud was 20 years old, he
attempted to join the French army. However he was allegedly
discharged because of his self-induced sleep walking.
after this he was taken back to the institution, where he
began writing short books, and also reading the works of
Edgar Allen Poe.
in march of 1920, Artaud moved to Paris to pursue his career
as a writer.
while living in Paris, he soon realised that he had a great
talent for avant-garde theatre.
he soon started performing and training with some very
talented actors at the time (Charles Dulling and George
Pitoeff).

8. In 1931, the “First
Manifesto for a Theater Of
Cruelty” was published in
“la Nouvelle Revue
Francaise”

10. So what isSo what is
Theatre ofTheatre of
CrueltyCruelty
exactly?exactly?

11. • Antonin Artaud believed that theatre should affect
the audience as much as possible. So, he would use
strange and disturbing forms of lighting , sound and
performance.
•
• Artaud also believed that the theatres main role was
to rid the audience of civilized thought and free
their natural energy.

12. • He did this by shocking them with mythic spectacles which
included, groans, screams, flashing lights and oversized
stage puppets.
• The play, “Les Cenci” was the only one of his plays ever
produced according to his theory.
• Theatre of cruelty was meant to show a more physical and
primitive performance intended to shock the spectators.
• He wanted the spectators to be aware of the cruelty of life
and violence so he would have them go through a
relieving of emotions
•

13. • When Artaud spoke about cruelty he didn’t mean violence,
instead he meant the cruelty it takes the actors to tear
away their masks and show the audience the truth that
isn’t at all what they want to see.
•
•
• Basically he was trying to change theatre completely, trying
to connect people with emotions that had been long lost.

14. • Antonin’s theory was never really accepted
and he was institutionalized for a long
time as he was declared a lunatic.
•
• In 1948 Antonin Artaud died at the age of
52 of intestinal cancer. He was in a
psychiatric ward when he died.