Antonin Artaud

Antonin Artaud (September 4, 1896–March 4, 1948) was a playwright, actor, and director.

An outline of Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty

• Artaud had a pessimistic view of the world, but he believed that theatre could affect change.
• Remove the audience from the everyday and use symbolic objects to work with the emotions and soul of the audience.
• Attack the audience's senses through an array of technical methods and acting so that the audience would be brought out of their desensitisation and have to confront themselves.
• Use the grotesque, the ugly and pain in order to confront an audience, thereby being cruel to them.