The Early Modern Theatre of Cruelty and its Doubles: Artaud and Influence (Avant-Gardes in Performance)

This book examines the influence of the early modern period on Antonin Artaud’s seminal work __The Theatre and Its Double__, arguing that Elizabethan and Jacobean drama and their early modern context are an integral part of the Theatre of Cruelty and essential to its very understanding. The chapters draw links between the early modern theatrical obsession with plague and regeneration, and how it is mirrored in Artaud’s concept of cruelty in the theatre. As a discussion of the influence of Shakespeare and his contemporaries on Artaud, and the reciprocal influence of Artaud on contemporary interpretations of early modern drama, this book is an original addition to both the fields of early modern theatre studies and modern drama. Dedication 6 Acknowledgements 7 Contents 9 List of Abbreviations and Note on Translation 11 Chapter 1: Introduction 13 Section I: The Theatre and Its Double 23 Chapter 2: Interpreting Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty 24 Foundations 27 Three Influential Events 35 Elizabethan Dramatic Conventions 39 Cruelty in the Theatre 41 Section II: Elizabethan Social History: Doubles of the Theatre 55 Chapter 3: Theatre and Plague: The Doubly Potent Spectacles of Early Modern Culture 56 The Marseilles Plague 59 Physiological and Psychological Symptoms of Plague 61 Plague in Early Modern England 68 The Plague-Theatre 76 Filth and Infection 82 Theatre, Contagion, and Ritual 84 Chapter 4: Bear-Baiting and the Theatre of Cruelty 96 The Pit and The Theatre 97 Elizabethan Receptivity 99 Jacobean Popularity 108 The Arena of Ambiguity 112 From Barbarity to Civility 115 Section III: The Sources of Dramatic Cruelty 127 Chapter 5: Thyestean Savagery: Seneca, the Renaissance, and the Theatre of Cruelty 128 Beyond Recitatio 131 The Sacrificial Crisis 134 Contagious Furor and Insatiability 137 Ritual and Bacchic Theatre 143 William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus directed by Yukio Ninagawa 149 Chapter 6: Artaud and the ‘Elizabethans’: Revenge Tragedy as Inspiration for a Theatre of Cruelty 161 An Emblematic Approach to Stage-Specific Language 164 Arden of Faversham Revisited 166 The True Theatre 169 The Revenger’s Tragedy 171 The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi 178 ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore 182 Section IV: The Theatre of Cruelty in Performance 197 Chapter 7: Artaud’s Les Cenci 198 From Innocence to Effluence 199 Les Destructeurs 204 The Theatre of Cruelty Test 208 Chapter 8: After Artaud: Peter Brook and The Theatre of Cruelty Season 217 Preparing for a Season of Cruelty 219 Marat/Sade: On Stage 226 Marat/Sade: On Screen 228 Theatre as Cure 229 Chapter 9: Conclusion 237 Bibliography 240 Books, Book Chapters, Articles 240 Films and Radio Broadcasts 261 Programmes 261 Promptbooks 261 Reviews 262 Index 263 Front Matter ....Pages i-xii Introduction (Amanda Di Ponio)....Pages 1-10 Front Matter ....Pages 11-11 Interpreting Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty (Amanda Di Ponio)....Pages 13-43 Front Matter ....Pages 45-45 Theatre and Plague: The Doubly Potent Spectacles of Early Modern Culture (Amanda Di Ponio)....Pages 47-86 Bear-Baiting and the Theatre of Cruelty (Amanda Di Ponio)....Pages 87-117 Front Matter ....Pages 119-119 Thyestean Savagery: Seneca, the Renaissance, and the Theatre of Cruelty (Amanda Di Ponio)....Pages 121-153 Artaud and the ‘Elizabethans’: Revenge Tragedy as Inspiration for a Theatre of Cruelty (Amanda Di Ponio)....Pages 155-190 Front Matter ....Pages 191-191 Artaud’s Les Cenci (Amanda Di Ponio)....Pages 193-211 After Artaud: Peter Brook and The Theatre of Cruelty Season (Amanda Di Ponio)....Pages 213-232 Conclusion (Amanda Di Ponio)....Pages 233-235 Back Matter ....Pages 237-270 This book examines the influence of the early modern period on Antonin Artaud{u2019}s seminal work The Theatre and Its Double, arguing that Elizabethan and Jacobean drama and their early modern context are an integral part of the Theatre of Cruelty and essential to its very understanding. The chapters draw links between the early modern theatrical obsession with plague and regeneration, and how it is mirrored in Artaud{u2019}s concept of cruelty in the theatre. As a discussion of the influence of Shakespeare and his contemporaries on Artaud, and the reciprocal influence of Artaud on contemporary interpretations of early modern drama, this book is an original addition to both the fields of early modern theatre studies and modern drama