Antonin Artaud's Diary Entry

October 22, '09

written by: SushiMonstar

Who am I? I am Antonin Artaud, the French playwright, poet, actor and theatre director who advocated the Theatre of Cruelty. My basic insight is that theatrical reality is different in kind from ordinary reality – it is self-defeating for the stage to attempt to copy everyday life. The Theatre of Cruelty which I advocated does not literally mean exclusive cruelty, sadism or violence. It must represent a violent and aggressive metaphysical way of shattering the false reality; violence whenever I believe it is necessary. I want the spectators to be affected as much as possible, to remain attached and almost distressed to what is being visualized on stage by my actors and actresses. The theatre of cruelty must purge the emotions of the audience and not only strike them for one night; but it must change the society that sees it completely and forever.

There must be inclusion of various illusionary visual objects to shock and bolt the human eye; there must be odd, eccentric physical tics to engage the audience fully, vacuuming them into the dramatization of a play. There must be masks and strange creatures dressed in ritual costumes- inclusion of mannequins, enormous masks and objects of strange proportions.

Lighting must fall in the face of the actors as it contains elements of thinness, density and opaqueness to the action perceived on stage. I want lighting to produce various strong and powerful organic sensations of cold, heat, animosity, fear and anger not just to intensify but also to infuse the character’s feelings and emotions into the audiences’ minds and bodies. Black light, pulsating illumination for aquarium effect and strobe lights are some experiments I have done clearly intending to disorient the spectator, or give emotional colouring to the scenes. However it must be remembered that the true value of lighting is its ability to dematerialize stage action, transposing it into a primitive, subconscious key.

Music is an extreme sensory knowledge and experience. Musical instruments must be treated as objects and part of the set. There must be shocking sounds to provoke and rouse completely emotive responses from the audience.

As for acting, I acknowledge my deep appreciation and esteem for Balinese dancing because of their intricate physicality. Multiple levels of articulations in the face, eyes, hands, arms, hips and feet are coordinated to reflect layers of percussive sounds made by the music. The acting in the stage must seem as a rebellion of and within the body. My search for a physical, visual mode of communication follows logically from using the stage to appeal to the pre-rational and primitive level of the mind. There is magnetism in the mobility of facial expression, and a stylized force in the movement and gesture, which has considerable emotional impact. For me, all expression must be physical expression in space and this will mostly be achieved through suffering. It is essential to existence.

All these elements are what I crave to apply on theatre to be able to send shockwaves to my play’s spectators. An eccentric and eerie atmosphere created by these elements of theatre allows me to ‘unseat’ myself, also sending shockwaves through me, teaching me my helplessness in the face of the powers that rule this human life. I dare to extend the audiences’ imagination by destroying conventional assumptions and simultaneously present alternate visions of the world.