VII. The Theater and Cruelty Summary and Analysis

The Theater of Cruelty is a concept aimed at reviving public interest in theater. Antonin Artaud maintains that "everything that acts is a cruelty." If theater is to rebuild itself, it has to do so using the extreme and cruel actions that only acting allows. Theater needs to attack the spectators, challenge them and raise their sensibility at a physical level with an overwhelming assault of sounds and sights. Theater has to bring out the magic that only physical actions can bring forth and make happen, both on stage and in the mind of the spectators who are part of the spectacle.

Artaud's concept of cruelty is aimed at raising the conscience of the public through theater. It does not involve physical or psychological cruelty, but refers to the involvement of the spectator...