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Practitioners and companies
Quick questions on Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty - WJEC A-Level Drama and Theatre practitioners
6short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is a sensory assault with intention?Show answer
Staging a moment of collective panic through Artaud, you might surround the audience with speakers playing an overlapping, rising wall of distorted sound, plunge the space into darkness broken by sudden harsh flashes of red light, and have performers move through the audience in ritualistic, convulsive patterns, all without dialogue. The intention is to make the audience feel the panic in their bodies rather than understand it intellectually, breaking their composure so the moment lands beneath thought. A weak version does the same things for empty shock; the strong version ties every choice to the deliberate effect of overwhelming and transforming the spectator, and the approach adapts to whatever stimulus or text your centre uses.
What is shock for its own sake?Show answer
A strobe or a scream with no purpose is not the Theatre of Cruelty. Tie every overwhelming choice to a deliberate effect.
What are isolated effects?Show answer
A single jolt is not enough. Sustain a coherent, immersive sensory experience.
What is q1?Show answer
What did Artaud mean by "cruelty"? [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Name three sensory means Artaud privileges over the spoken text. [3 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Explain how you would use Artaud's ideas to create a visceral, sensory response when staging a moment. [10 marks]
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