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Sadly, the French mastermind known as Antonin Artaud (1896-1948) was not always a lucid one. The man who coined the term 'theatre of cruelty' spent a significant portion of his later life in asylums, and when on the outside, addicted to opium.

Much of Artaud's writings on the theatre are difficult to comprehend and his manifestos in 'The Theatre and Its Double' are not exactly bedtime reading. Artaud often has less appeal to teachers and students of theatre than other theorists and practitioners because his techniques are not readily translatable. One has to work hard to decipher how Artaud's concepts for his Theatre of Cruelty become concrete conventions for the stage. But this does not mean we should dismiss Artaud or his influence on 20th century theatre.

A largely movement-based performance style, Theatre of Cruelty aimed to shock the senses of its audience, sometimes using violent and confronting images that appealed to the emotions. Text was given a reduced emphasis in Artaud's theatre, as dance and gesture became just as powerful as the spoken word. Piercing sound and bright stage lights bombarded the audience during performances.

Artaud experimented with the relationship between performer and audience, preferring to place spectators at the very centre of a performance surrounding them. His intention was to trap the audience inside the drama.

I have recently been working with my Year 12 Drama class on Artaud, scouring numerous texts in order to understand his Theatre of Cruelty techniques in some depth. Our intention is for some students in the class to present the story of Jack the Ripper in this style. Below, I have compiled a categorised list of many of the conventions of the Theatre of Cruelty in the hope that it proves useful for teachers and students.

Theory

This is Artaud's 'double': theatre should recall those moments when we wake from dreams unsure whether the dream's content or the bed we are lying in is our reality (The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance)

Text

emphasis on the written or spoken text was significantly reduced

the notion of text being exalted (a more powerful component) was eliminated

Artaud referred to spoken dialogue as 'written poetry'

emphasis on improvisation, not scripts

There can be no spectacle without an element of cruelty as the basis of every show (First Manifesto, Antonin Artaud)

Movement & Gesture

We do not intend to do away with dialogue, but to give words something of the significance they have in dreams (First Manifesto, Antonin Artaud)

Space & Actor-Audience Relationship

Stagecraft

We intend to do away with stage and auditorium, replacing them by a kind of single, undivided locale without any partitions of any kind and this will become the very scene of the action (First Manifesto, Antonin Artaud)

Acting & Characterisation

the actor was encouraged to openly use emotions (opposite to Brecht and Epic Theatre)

no emphasis on individual characters in performance (opposite to Stanislavski and Realism)

characters were less defined by movement, gesture and dance (compared to spoken dialogue)

Grotowski warned the Artaudian actor to avoid stereotyped gestures: one for each emotion

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Sadly, the French mastermind known as Antonin Artaud (1896-1948) was not always a lucid one. The man who coined the term 'theatre of cruelty' spent a significant portion of his later life in asylums, and when on the outside, addicted to opium. Much of Artaud's writings on the theatre

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Oh Freedom! - The Golden Gospel Singers (Lyrics in Description)

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The slave trade also promoted the confinement of those involved but in reflection, we could look at how it has changed in recent years and how the slaves had to fight for their freedom.

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A video created for the international day of the girl to promote females who are in need of help to achieve freedom and how it should be equal.

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Freedom - International Day of the Girl | Global Goals

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inability

incompetence

weakness

captivity

confinement

limitation

slavery

government

suppression

restriction

restraint

imprisonment

difficulty

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Bullying is a topic that could be easily linked to freedom as the bullies and the victims both need freedom from their situations- as many bullies are being bullied themselves. This helps to show the cycle and struggle that it takes to become free.

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The idea of becoming trapped by your own mind- with conditions such as anxiety, depression etc. Looking at the way it can shape and change a person by the lack of being able to think for themselves without being in fear of their own mind/thoughts.

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In some places, dictatorship limits the society's ability to have freedom and be who they want to be. This comes from the oppression put on them through the powers at be. This would be an interesting way to look at Freedom through the contrast of countries and their individual issues (for example eastern women being oppressed to stay indoors and become housewives, in comparison to women in Europe who run and own their own businesses).

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As of today, there are 49 dictatorships in the world (21 in Africa, 18 in Asia, 7 in the Middle East, 1 in Europe and 2 in Americas). We define a dictator as the ruler of a land rated “Not Free” by the Freedom House in their annual survey of freedom.

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George Michael - Freedom! ’90 (Official Video)

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The freedom of not being wrapped in social media/being pressured by the so- called 'social norms' of today's society. People are easily sucked into social media and are very reluctant to become free of it.

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1. the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.

2. the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.

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Wham!'s official music video for 'Freedom'. Click to listen to Wham! on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/WhamSpotify?IQid=WhamFree As featured on The Final. Click to buy the track or album via iTunes: http://smarturl.it/WhamTFiTunes?IQid=WhamFree Google Play: http://smarturl.it/WhamFreedomGplay?IQid=WhamFree Amazon: http://smarturl.it/WhamTFAmazon?IQid=WhamFree Stream more music from Wham! here: http://smarturl.it/WhamMStream?IQid=WhamFree More from Wham!