Theatre of Cruelty and Theatre of the Absurd

 The events of the Second World War were held as the main trigger to originate Theatre of the Absurd and Theatre of Cruelty. The disregard for human life and dignity witnessed in times of war made the appearance of a new type of theatre almost inevitable. The disappearance of religion in contemporary life might have also influenced the birth of the Theatre of the Absurd, since it attempted to restore the importance of myth and ritual to everyday life and heart, focusing on the sense of cosmic wonder and supernatural anguish. The Absurd Theatre hopes to achieve this by shocking man out of an existence that has become trite, mechanical and complacent. It is felt that there is a mystical experience in confronting the limits of human condition. Some of the characteristics of this Theatre form include the parody of language, no dramatic conflict, no logic and strange scenic effects. 

 French surrealism acknowledged the subconscious mind as a great, positive healing force as well. However, its contribution to the sphere of drama was meager: indeed it can be said that the Absurd Theatre of the 1950s and 1960s was a belated practical realization of the principles formulated by the Surrealists as early as the 1930s. In this connection, of particular importance were the theoretical writings of Antonin Artaud. Artaud fully rejected realism in the theatre, cherishing a vision of a stage of magical beauty and mythical power. Antonin Artauds’s Surrealism and Theatre of Cruelty was probably the use of theatre that took me most off my comfort zone. With this type of theatre, Artaud hoped to unleash unconscious responses in audiences and performers that were normally inaccessible, plus he wanted audiences to find in the theatre not an area for escape from the world, but the realization of their worst nightmares and deepest fears. In the exercise we did on this, we had to lie down with our eyes closed and make surreal noises, and that was exactly what happened and I kept fearing that I would eventually get attacked at any moment. Although this quite a terrifying experience for me, it helped see the darker side of the theatre that I wasn’t aware of.