Artaud, Antonin

Artaud, Antonin (1896–1948), French actor, director, and poet, who is best remembered for his advocacy of the Theatre of Cruelty, which he demonstrated in his production of his own play Les Cenci (1935), and defined in a volume of essays, Le Théâtre et son double, published in 1938, by which time Artaud, being considered insane, was in an asylum, emerging only two years before his death. Using gesture, movement, sound, and rhythm rather than words, the Theatre of Cruelty as Artaud envisaged it depicted behaviour no longer bound by normal restraints, aiming rather to shock the audience into realizing the underlying ferocity and ruthlessness of human life, and so releasing its own inhibitions. These ideas were adopted by such playwrights as Arrabal, Genet, and Orton, and were apparent in Barrault's adaptation of Kafka's The Trial (1947). Their most successful exposition commercially was seen in Peter Brook's production of the Marat/Sade (1964) by Peter Weiss. Two other directors much influenced by Artaud's ideas were Vilar and Blin. Artaud in his early years was much interested in Surrealist plays, some of which he presented at the Théâtre Alfred Jarry, of which he was co-founder with Roger Vitrac.