Double - Dr Faustus - Research (Artaud) - 22/06/16

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Artaud)

Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud, better known as Antonine Artaud (4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French dramatist, poet, essayist, actor, and theatre director, widely recognized as one of the major figures of twentieth-century theatre and the European avant-garde.

Artaud believed that theatre should be a force for the liberation of the human subconscious and revelation of man to himself. He called for "communion between actor and audience in a magic exorcism; gestures, sounds, unusual scenery, and lighting combine to form a language, superior to words, that can be used to subvert thought and logic and to shock the spectator into seeing the baseness of his world."

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_Cruelty)

The Theatre of Cruelty is a form of theatre developed by avant-garde playwright, actor, essayist, and theorist, Antonin Artaud, in The Theatre and its Double. Originally a member of the surrealist movement, Artaud eventually began to develop his own theatrical theories. The Theatre of Cruelty can be seen as break with traditional Western theatre, and a means by which artists assault the senses of the audience, and allow them to feel the unexpressed emotions of the subconscious. While Artaud was only able to produce one play in his lifetime that reflected the tenets of the Theatre of Cruelty, the works of many theatre artists reflect his theories. These artists include Jean Genet, Jerzy Grotowski, and Peter Brook.

From looking at this research I feel we can use a lot of "Theatre of Cruelty" techniques in our Dr Faustus play such as gestures, sounds and unusual lighting. I will continue to refer to this throughout my future blog posts