| To Antonin Artuad, theatre was not a matter of | | | | Mallarme, Maeterlinck and Alfred Jarry. He was |
| life and death, it was hell of lot more important | | | | overwhelmed by a performance of Balinese |
| than that. He wanted theatre to return to what it | | | | theatre which he witnessed at the Colonial |
| once was in primitive societies - pure magic - an | | | | Exposition in Paris in 1931, it cemented his belief |
| event where a catharsis of the audience would | | | | that a dramatic presentation should be an act of |
| take place. | | | | initiation during which the spectator will be awed |
| This catharsis that he spoke so passionately | | | | and even terrified, even heightening to such a |
| about was not to be fleeting, it was not to be the | | | | degree that they may even lose their reason. |
| type of catharsis that would move the audience | | | | During this induced frenzy the spectator will be |
| for just the rest of the evening, only to be | | | | able to take onboard a complete new set of |
| forgotten about with the cold realities of the | | | | truths, revelations into the true nature of society. |
| morning, rather it was to be a catharsis that was | | | | Artaud sought theatre to disturb the mind and |
| to change civilisation, entirely and forever. | | | | open the subconscious, driving people back to |
| Artaud was rallying against traditional French | | | | their primitive nature. His method of achieving this |
| theatre - the stock process of proposing a | | | | goal was to base theatre in the arenas of danger |
| problem at the beginning of a play and providing a | | | | and cruelty. He thought that words should act as |
| solution to this problem by the end of the play. He | | | | an incantation and actors should become |
| envisioned a theatre characterised by freedom, | | | | something akin to shaman summoning life themes |
| mystery and surrealism and he observed the | | | | that are beyond human. |
| roots of this type theatre in the work of | | | | |