Module 4: Artaud

Question 1

Who is Antonin Artaud

Answer 1

A French writer, poet, director in the 1920s - 1940s

Question 2

Define the idea: Theatre of Cruelty

Answer 2

Violence and bonkersness of life

Anti realist

Opposite of Aristotle (emphasis on spectacle, little on plot and language)

influenced by surrealism and symbolism, most strongly inspired by Balinese dance that Artaud witnessed

Question 3

T or F: Theatre of Cruelty was violent for the sake of it

Answer 3

False; only violent when necessary

Question 4

What were Athletes of the Heart?

Answer 4

Mentioned in Theatre of Cruelty

Actors who operated from emotion, sensation, and pure physicality instead of psychological realism

Question 5

Antonin Artaud was ____ by surrealists… why?

Answer 5

Rejected; for not renouncing the bourgeois of theatre

Question 6

Antonin Artaud had intense _____ and ______ health issues

Answer 6

Physical and mental

Question 7

Define “Theatre of Cruelty” from Theatre and its double:

Answer 7

“Double” is never specified by its presumably life

Prioritizes visceral and sensory experiences over traditional storytelling and dialogue, aims to shock the liberate the subconscious

Question 8

Main ideas of Jet of Blood

Answer 8

Short play written by Artaud

Surrealist and proto absurdist

Weird ass play and not really stageable (scorpions…)