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Dramatic Theory and Practitioners
Quick questions on Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty explained: H2 Theatre Studies and Drama
5short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the aim?Show answer
Artaud, a French theorist and practitioner of the early twentieth century, believed Western theatre had become tame, talky and literary, a polite evening of words. He wanted theatre restored to the force of a ritual or a religious rite, an event powerful enough to shake spectators to their core and change them. His writings (collected as "The Theatre and Its Double") describe this as the Theatre of Cruelty.
What is "Cruelty" reconsidered?Show answer
Artaud's "cruelty" does not mainly mean violence or gore. It means rigour, necessity and an unflinching confrontation with the darker forces of human existence, a refusal to comfort the audience. The cruelty is the relentlessness with which the production exposes the spectator to overwhelming experience and denies them a safe, detached vantage point.
What is q1?Show answer
Explain what Artaud meant by "cruelty" in the Theatre of Cruelty. [3 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Name three non-verbal means Artaud's total theatre uses to reach the audience's senses. [3 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Contrast the intended audience effect of Artaud's theatre with that of Brecht's epic theatre. [4 marks]
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