Interesting Antonin Artaud Facts, Biography, And More

Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud or as he was commonly known, Antonin Artaud was one of the most significant contributors to 20th-century theater developing a unique style and theories never heard before.

Antonin's artistic work had an impact on numerous fields; he was a renowned French novelist, dramatist, poet, actor, theater director, visual artist, essayist but his most significant work is known to be 'The Theatre of Cruelty'. His theory of 'The Theatre of Cruelty' later influenced playwrights including Beckett, Albee, and more.

Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud was born in the French city of Marseilles on September 4, 1896, in a well-sufficed household. Early on in Artaud's life, he suffered from a severe meningitis attack following which he had to face repercussions throughout his life.

Later on in his life, Antonin Artaud suffered from medical issues, and dealing with the pain.

Eventually, Artaud went to Paris to study under the director Charles Dullin but was always under medical supervision.

He soon began to work as an actor and eventually wrote poems that got published and several novels, books as well. At one point, he was also a part of the Surrealist movement but later, Artaud broke with the Surrealist group.

In the later part of the '30s, Antonin Artaud was struggling mentally but ironically, it was during this period that he wrote the book  'Le Théâtre et son double' ('The Theater and Its Double') which included his most famous work 'The Theatre Of Cruelty'.

Unlike many other theoreticians of drama, Antonin Artaud did not succeed when it came to poetry, dramatics, or fiction.

His entire reputation and contribution are based on his critical work, primarily, 'The Theater Of Cruelty'.

Antonin Artaud Quotes

Antonin Artaud, the remarkable French theater director, and novelist had a passion for writing and he later combined it with experimental theater resulting in one of the greatest theoreticians of drama ever.

Antonin wrote various essays, worked under directors such as Charles Dullin, and also acted in some of them. Let us take a look at some of the most famous Antonin Artaud quotes from his essays and other literary works which give the readers a different but clear perspective about theater.

All these quotes and many others are excerpts from Artaud's essays, poems, thoughts, and other writings.

'There is in every madman a misunderstood genius whose idea, shining in his head, frightened people and for whom delirium was the only solution to the strangulation that life had prepared for him.'

- Antonin Artaud.

'I would like to write a Book which would drive men mad, which would be like an open door leading them where they would never have consented to go, in short, a door that opens onto reality.'

- Antonin Artaud.

'All writing is garbage. People who come out of nowhere to try and put into words any part of what goes on in their minds are pigs.'

- Antonin Artaud.

'So society has strangled in its asylums all those it wanted to get rid of or protect itself from, because they refused to become its accomplices in certain great nastiness.'

- Antonin Artaud.

'When you will have made him a body without organs, then you will have delivered him from all his automatic reactions and restored him to his true freedom.'

- Antonin Artaud.

Antonin Artaud Plays

The majority of his work life Artaud spent in writing essays and making a small collection of works and was a playwright for very few numbers of plays. However, some of the plays which had Antonin's involvement were quite different in terms of the theme from the common ones of the time.

Most of Antonin Artaud's plays revolved around depicting raw human emotions and their behavior.

Some believe that Antonin was ahead of his time as his work wasn't appreciated by the majority of audiences but he heavily influenced several people, drama companies including the likes of The Living Theatre, Spalding Gray, Karen Finley, and more.

In his work of 'The Theatre of Cruelty', Antonin talked about the fact that in the plays in Artaud's theater, there would be no script and the actors wouldn't just act a written play rather they would attempt to directly stage the play combining facts, the theme of the play and other previous work knowledge.

Antonin Artaud's Early Life

Antonin Artaud was born on September 4, 1986, to Antoine-Roi Artaud, a wealthy ship fitter, and Euphrasie Nalpas, his mother who was a housewife. As an interesting fact, about Antonin's parents, they were first cousins as his grandmothers were both sisters.

Did you know that Antonin had a Greek ancestry owing to his mother which he was intrigued by a lot and he was believed to be highly affected by it?

When Antonin was five years old, he was diagnosed with meningitis which at that time was a deadly disease as it had no cure as such.

Eventually, Antonin survived but he had become pretty weak owing to constant treatments which also included a comatose period. Artaud gained education at Coll'e du Sacré Coeur in the city of Marseilles and by the time he was 14, Artaud had become the founder of a literary magazine which he ran till the age of 18.

Throughout his teenage years, Antonin suffered from severe headaches which further continued till the later part of his life as well.

Come 1914, Antonin suffered from an attack of neurasthenia during which Artaud expressed great pain while he was being treated at a rest home. After a couple of years, he joined the French army but was released in just one year due to Artaud's habits which led to his mental instability.

In 1918, Artaud moved to Switzerland where he joined a clinic and remained for the next two years.

Antonin Artaud And Theater

Antonin was one of the most celebrated theater theorists of the 1900s. Artaud cultivated the ideas of 'The Theatre of Cruelty' which is a part of his most well-known work 'The Theatre And Its Double'.

Artaud believed that the artists had to connect with the audience not just by words and texts but by their gestures and actions more so.

Artaud's theory went on to influence several artists and drama groups. His dramatic theory insisted on shocking and confronting the audience but not by merely using words.

According to him, the artist must connect with the emotions of the audience for which he could use tools such as sounds and light as well along with gestures and actions. Artists including the likes of Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, and Peter Brook are believed to have been influenced by the theory which Artaud called 'The Theatre of Cruelty'.

Antonin Artaud's Works

In the year 1921, Antonin moved from Switzerland to Paris to pursue a professional career as a writer. During his initial days in Paris, Artaud trained as an apprentice under Charles Dullin who was one of the most celebrated French actors, directors who could teach their skills to the upcoming generation as well.

At the same time, Artaud wrote poems, essays and when he was 27 years old, he sent them to La Nouvelle Revue Française for publication but they got rejected.

Antonin Artaud worked and learned a lot under the guidance of Charles Dullin but every now then he disagreed with his teachings, and eventually, after a period of time, he parted ways with the French director.

By then Antonin had developed a great liking for films and in the year 1928, he went on to write the setting of the very first Surrealist film named 'The Seashell and the Clergyman'. The years that followed witnessed Antonin work in a number of films including 'Napoleon' (1927), 'The Passion Of Joan Of Arc' (1928).

In the year 1927, Antonin also wrote the film script of arguably the most famous surrealist film of all time, 'La Coquille et le clergyman'.

During his work life, Artaud also founded the Theatre Alfred Jarry but it could stage only four productions and lasted only around 18 months but interestingly, a number of top artists visited the theater.

Following the shut down of the Theatre Alfred Jarry, it is said that Artaud once attended an ancient dance form commonly known as Balinese dance which went on to influence his thoughts about the theater and ultimately his work regarding 'The Theatre And Its Double'.

In the year 1935, Artaud also staged P.B. Shelley's 'The Cenci' and it was a typical choice of Artaud as the drama revolved around the themes of murder, incest, violence, betrayal, and abuse.

Although the production was a commercial failure, the play involved the use of Ondes Martenot which is an electronic instrument.

Throughout his life, Artaud traveled a lot, from Mexico to Ireland to France and several other places as well. Artaud returned to his home country France in 1937 but he was mentally sick.

However, the next year he released the biggest work of his career, 'The Theatre And Its Double' which contained many of his essays, playwrights. In it was Artaud's 'Theatre of Cruelty' which is believed to be a stepping stone of the modern theater. Ultimately Artaud died on March 4, 1948, in Ivry-Sur-Seine owing to colorectal cancer.