Antonin Artaud born on this day in1896 he was an Actor, director, writer, artist, poet, He traveled the world under random surnames, doing peyote with the Tarahumaras of South America and being arrested for posing as St. Patrick in Ireland. He was tormented by fits of depression and nervous breakdowns stemming from a prescription drug habit that developed after a childhood bout of meningitis he was committed for a total of 15 years of his life, and despite his difficulties he was a voracious reader and a prolific writer throughout his life.
Antonin Artaud established the "Theatre of Cruelty" school of drama. This was a break from the conservative traditional melodrama of morality plays that were the norm of the day. Antonin envisioned theatre as a ritual that used ancient primal themes to invoke deep recessed fears and desires. Antonin believed that we were unaware of the things that truly kept us in bondage, our self deprecating egos masked our external difficulties as “the devil”, and labeled internal forces as “good” when in reality both forces separated us from our true selves and kept us in bondage. To enable the individual to overcome these forces Antonin believed that they needed to be circumvented by traumatic upheavals using ancient themes, finally leaving the individual free.
Even if the true meaning of his theatre was ultimately watered down and lost. I think it’s important to see the influence of Antonin Artaud as being pervasive in our society. Jim Morrison and the Doors, The Matrix, Nine Inch Nails, Industrial, Death Metal, Black Metal, Emo, Death Rockers and Goth, all draw from the traditional “Theatre of Cruelty” as influence.
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