Antonin Artaud and Bertolt Brecht
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The theater of Antonin Artaud and Bertolt Brecht is radically different with respect to the purpose and goals of the respective playwrights with respect to the impact of their works on audiences and society. If ArtaudÆs theater of cruelty and BrechtÆs epic theater are distinct, then so are their goals for audience impact. Artaud hoped by showing images of manÆs cruelty to man, audience members would experience a form of ôdeliriumö whereby they would ôexperience trances and inspirationö leading to personal change, (Fowlie, p. 203). If ArtaudÆs surreal works of theater were meant to inspire transformation and change on the micro- or individual level, then BrechtÆs epic theater was designed to bring about change on the macro- or social level. Brecht attempted social change with his ôepic theater,ö plays that engaged viewers by presenting objects, issues, and characters to alienate, (Bertolt, p. 1). Brecht maintained the point of production was to ôtake the subject matter and the incidents shown and put them through a process of alienation: the alienation that is necessary to all understanding,ö (Bertolt, p. 1). This analysis will explore the ideas and philosophies of theater exhibited in the writings and works of these two playwrights. A conclusion will address their impact on the works of other playwrights, like In describing the goal of his epic theater, Bertolt Brecht (p. 1) wrote that ôWhen something seems t
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nly by shocking audiences with violent images that would produce such a state of mind would individuals ôbreak with the sensitivity and the logical mentality of the nineteenth century,ö which he deemed responsible for the social ills of his era, (Fowlie, p. 204).
If BrechtÆs goal was to liberate the collective or social subconscious in audiences, then ArtaudÆs goal was to liberate the subconscious of the individual spectator. In ArtaudÆs theater of cruelty in which chaos, frenzy, and violence produce this transformation in the viewer, the playwright argued that the ôsacred goalö of theater was ôto communicate delirium whereby spectators will experience trances and inspiration,ö (Fowlie, p. 204). Artaud believed that if the playwright is able to direct audiences back to a state of mind that is one of dreams and primitive instincts, then the viewed will discover himself or herself in a ôworld that is bloodthirsty and inhuman,ö (Fowlie, p. 206). In a sense, the subjects and images of ArtaudÆs plays were to create a primal scream, so-to-speak, in the viewer that would lead him or her back to a primal state of nature, a break with illusion, and a greater chance for happiness and self-fulfillment.
In BrechtÆs epic theater, the chang
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Approximate Word count = 1238
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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