Antonin Artaud and the modern theater

The aim of this collection of original essays is twofold: first, to cement Antonin Artaud's position as a significant theorist and innovator of the modern theater whose ideas not only have become far reaching but also have had practical stage applications, and second, to explicate several of the subtle nuances of Artaud's theories so as to make his ideas more accessible.

Artaud exerted a profound impact on the theater. As a theatrical innovator and theorist of modern dramaturgy, he has had considerable influence among playwrights and actors.

Some of the twentieth century's most creative theater directors have been Artaud's disciples, and his theoretical writings have inspired such diverse theatrical groups as Jerzy Grotowski's Laboratory Theatre, John Cage's "happenings" of the 1950s and 1960s, Joseph Chaikin's Open Theatre, Julian Beck and Judith Malina's Living Theatre, Richard Schechner's Performance Group, and Ariane Mnouchknie's Theatre de Soleil.

The first section of this anthology clarifies Artaud's theories and provides insight about his life and ideology. The role that comedy plays in Artaud's conception of theater is examined as well as the concepts of cruelty and cure, explicating how Artaud used these terms in relationship to the metaphor of the theater as plague. Various influences on Artaud's theories of drama are discussed as is the influence of Mayan culture and Balinese rituals.

The second group of essays establishes Artaud's influence on, and relationship to, several significant twentieth-century dramatists, innovative performance artists, and seminal theater movements. Artaud's theories on Oriental theater are applied to modern cultural anthropology and to absurdist drama. Also examined are the similarities between Artaud and Polish playwright Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz as are Artaudian elements in a quintessential example of Theatre of Cruelty.

Artaud's vision of community is analyzed by its application to the environmental theater of the 1960s and 1970s. Last to be discussed is Artaud's influence on Spain's most significant post-Lorcan dramatist, Antonio Buero-Vallejo.