Theatre and Acting/Theatre of Cruelty

The Theatre of Cruelty was founded by Antonin Artaud in 1935. It was his next step after his “Théâtre Alfred Jarry” which he had had joint management of. It took some of it’s inspiration from the surrealist movement. The idea of cruelty refers to the emotional shock and strain of the audience during the performance. Effects such as light and sound are intensified and exaggerated to create a feeling of exhaustion of emotion. The Theatre of cruelty has had a great impact on modern horror movies. It also uses ideas like unexplainable phenomenon and mystical forces in its plays. Fear is a vital part of the idea, the types of plot are generally about the unknown, and bloodshed etc. is frequent. Often there is a lack of dialogue and concrete storyline to heighten the idea of confusion. It differs from older drama by its focus on effects and not language. The theatre of Cruelty was in France.