Antonin Artaud
Artaud was a French actor turn theatre practitioner who suffered from severe depression throughout his lifetime. He believed that man was a savage and expressed this belief through physical theatre as he believed that words were not an expressive enough medium to portray human emotion; it was all channelled through the body. To accomplish this physicality, he aimed to batter the mind into submission. He thought the only time man was true to themselves was in extreme situations so aimed to push his actors and his theatre over the boundaries of the norm.
Theatre of Cruelty- perhaps due to his depression, Artaud had a rather negative outlook on life. He looked beyond the façade of society and delved into human nature and instinct. He believed if you stripped humans back, you would find a savage animal that has no regard for anyone; like any other animal, it is survival of the fittest. He used theatre to express these extreme beliefs, using it as a way to express all these opinions in an artistic environment. He wanted his audience to feel as close and involved in the action as possible, so as to expose humans and humanity to them.
Total Theatre- this concept completely defies that of Grotowski's poor theatre as Artaud believed in making use of all elements of theatre to create a complete theatrical experience for his audience: sound, lighting, props, costume, anything available to increase the performances dramtic intensity, he would use.
Is man a savage?
I think man is a complete savage. When born, a baby has three things on its mind: food, sleep and care. This is the same as any other animal; only thinking about the necessities to keep them alive. We are then warped by society into polite people with etiquette and manners. However underneath the expensive clothes, flash car, big house and seemingly perfect life, you find humans who will disregard human emotion for their own specific gain. Capitalism is a system the western world has lived by for centuries and is built by man's greed, power complex and hierarchy- a system you will see in the wild. It is a question of who is at the top of the food chain and who can stay there.
Jerzy Grotowski
Grotowski was born in South Poland, an artist who defied the normal set of rules within the theatre, veering away from naturalistic styles and introducing a new experimental genre. He was influenced by a lot religious writings like the Quran and the Bible plus the writings of Dostoevsky. He set up his theatre company the Polish Theatre Lab. Grotowski's style of theatre wasn't just a hobby, it was a way of life- his actors had to rely and trust each other from day one; working, eating and sleeping together. His training was intense. He was more interested in form than story and in the process over the performance. It was all about the growth and development of his actors both as performers and people. He was very passionate about the actor audience relationship and stripped anything else back until you were left with a cast of actors, an audience and a stage.
Poor Theatre- unlike Artaud, Grotowski believed that props, costume, lighting and sound were all unnecessary and superfluous. He believed this raw style of theatre encouraged the all important actor audience relationship. He thought that a live communion between the actors and audience and a space to perform in, was all that was needed to make a piece of theatre.
Via Negativa- this was an elimination technique that allowed his actors to rid themselves of anything not allowing them to commit to a role. They were meant to be completely and utterly in the moment. He wanted his actors to be so connected that they came to a moment of lucidity or as he called it self penetration.
His rigorous style of training made his actors run through the woods naked. He believed exhaustion was the key to unlocking true creativity as it accessed raw emotion.
Peter Brook
Peter Brook is an English Film and Theatre Director who was
highly influenced by Artaud, especially his Theatre of Cruelty concept. He
thought personal involvement in the work you do was very important and drawing
on the life you have lived can be the catalyst for your artistic inspiration.
Deadly Theatre- this
is the theatre that is produced for the production of money. Commercialised
theatre that is put on with the only aim being generating ticket sales. Deadly
theatre is not dead, it is very much alive and breathing, but it is alive in
the wrong way; alive not present. Deadly theatre will conform to the rules of
‘normal theatre’ and will fail to push boundaries and make the audience of the
work question the work they are watching.
Holy Theatre- this
is theatre that is born from abstract ideas, inspired by improvisation and
natural instinct, which can then be developed into something solid that can be
moulded and eventually form a complete performance. This theatre goes above
and beyond ordinary life.
Rough Theatre- it
defies society’s rules and challenges them by investigating themes that aren't
supposed to be discussed in polite society. By looking at such themes, it was
meant to spark change socially and politically. It doesn't have to happen in
traditional forms, both in the text and staging.
Immediate Theatre- this
style of theatre mixes all the different types of theatre- selecting elements
of contemporary and traditional theatre and creating a new style. Actors are
completely alive in the moment when performing and the audience should travel
with them on an emotional, almost spiritual journey.
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