Antonin Artaud

Antonin Artaud notes

• Born 1898
• Died 1948
• He was French
• H lived lived through the 1st and 2nd world wars.
• He was always a very sick child, he had meningitis at age 4 and that was the beginning of a ong history of illness and mental disorders.
• H spent most of his adult life in mental asylums
• He started as an artist and then moved towards heater and film.
• He wrote his ideas as a manifesto for what he thought theatre should be.
• Advocated a new style of theatre- not just about language, wanted music, special effects- paintings come to life.
• Breaking conventions of theatre at the time.
• wanted to disturb audience- provoke thinking.
• wanted theatre that would attack humanity then recognize it through sound, gestures etc.
• wanted to shock audience.