Antonin Artaud, a renowned French playwright, actor, artist, and director, made a lasting impact on the world of theater with his small collection of works. Despite producing only a few plays during his lifetime, Artaud’s theoretical writings and involvement with the Surrealist movement greatly influenced his unique approach to theater. He believed in the need for a new type of theater, which he called the ‘Theater of Cruelty,’ emphasizing the importance of manuscript and the primal expressions of movement, light, and sound. While his plays often focused on human behavior and raw emotions, they were met with criticism and dismissal by some. Artaud’s contributions extended beyond playwriting, as he regularly wrote for periodicals like ‘Litterature’ and advocated for the creation of a new genre of theater through works like ‘Art and Death’ and ‘The Theatre and its Double.’ His ultimate goal was to challenge and transform the existing theatrical experiences of his time.
Quick Facts
- French Celebrities Born In September
- Also Known As: Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud
- Died At Age: 51
- Family: father: Antoine-Roi Artaud, mother: Euphrasie Nalpas
- Born Country: France
- Quotes By Antonin Artaud
- Poets
- Died on: March 4, 1948
- place of death: Ivry-sur-Seine, France
- Ancestry: Greek French
- Notable Alumni: Studied At The Collège Du Sacré-Cœur
- Cause of Death: Colorectal Cancer
- City: Marseille, France
- More Facts
- education: Studied At The Collège Du Sacré-Cœur
Childhood & Early Life
Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud was born to Euphrasie Nalpas and Antoine-Roi Artaud in Marseille, France. At the age of four, he suffered from meningitis, which ultimately gave him an edgy, short-tempered personality throughout his adolescence. He also suffered from stammering problems and clinical depression.
Career
In 1920, after being discharged from a sanatorium, Artaud moved to Paris to pursue a career as a writer. It was there that he realized his passion for experimental theatre. In 1921, he contributed articles to periodicals like ‘Litterature’ and became a leading face of the Surrealist group. He trained with directors like Charles Dullin and Georges Pitoeff and wrote both poetry and essays. He also developed a great interest in cinema and wrote the setting for the first Surrealist film of his career, ‘The Seashell and the Clergyman’, in 1928.
In 1931, Artaud witnessed a traditional Balinese dance performance that greatly influenced his ideas for theatre. The same year, the ‘First Manifesto for a Theatre of Cruelty’ was published. In 1935, his production of Shelley’s ‘The Cenci’ premiered, using the Ondes Martenot, an electronic instrument, for the first time. In 1936, he traveled to Mexico to study and live with the Tarahumaran people. Two years later, his best-known work, ‘The Theatre and Its Double’, was published.
In the final years of his life, Artaud spent time in various asylums and a psychiatric hospital. In 1947, he recorded ‘Pour en Finir avec le Jugement de dieu’, which was shelved and only broadcasted thirty years later.
Major Works
‘The Theatre and its Double’ was released in 1938 and is considered Artaud’s magnum opus. It attacked standard dramatic conventions and outlined the ideology of the ‘Theatre of Cruelty’. The collection is still widely used and has strongly influenced renowned figures such as Peter Brook.
Personal Life & Legacy
In January 1948, Artaud was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and passed away three months later. It was also suspected that he died from a poisonous dose of the drug, chloral hydrate. He has been mentioned in popular culture, with bands like ‘Motley Crüe’ and Argentinian hard rock band naming albums after him. He also influenced the ‘Living Theatre’ and had a wide influence on philosophers such as Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze.
Trivia
The character ‘Lee Toric’ in the television series ‘Sons of Anarchy’ was seen reading Artaud’s novel, ‘Watchfields & Rack Screams’, in an episode of Season 5.