"UBU ROI" (DIRECTED BY ANTONIN ARTAUD).   Term Paper ID:26804 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines Artaud's interpretation of Alfred Jarry's play, focusing on the "theater of cruelty" & ideas of Jerzy Grotowski.... More...

4 Pages / 900 Words 3 sources, 13 Citations, MLA Format $16.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Examines Artaud's interpretation of Alfred Jarry's play, focusing on the "theater of cruelty" & ideas of Jerzy Grotowski. Paper Introduction: Antonin Artaud's theater of cruelty techniques are springboards for the director's imagination. His theories, based in part on Cambodian and Balinese dance, extol a form of "total theater," where visual images, gesture, light, sound, and noise take precedence over the written or spoken word. This potent combination is used to disturb the subconscious of the audience and kindle their imaginations. These images are often shocking, but as Artaud explains, "We are not free, and the sky can still fall on our heads; and the theater exists to remind us of this fact" (Artaud 79). Alfred Jarry's King Ubu displays "the spirit of profound anarchy which is the root of all poetry" (Artaud 42), and this can be seen in Act IV of the play as Pa Ubu states, We'll stay on top of this hill and we'll not be so Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Artaud's "objective unforeseen" is a perfect directorial device forKing Ubu. Antonin Artaud's theater of cruelty techniques are springboards forthe director's imagination. These actors are super-responsive, so in-tune with their physical beingsthat even thought cannot interrupt their reflexes. To truly follow the concepts of Grotowski, this production of Ubu Roimust come out of a workshop of actors trained in self-revelation. As Grotowski would put it, no "clownish or cabaret stereotypes"(Grotowski 15). I recommend you to load your rifles with as many bullets as they will hold, since eight bullets can kill eight Russians and that's just so many more I won't have on my back (Jarry 54).Artaud makes clear his own view of language when he writes, To make metaphysics out of a spoken language is to make the language express what it does not ordinarily express; to make use of it in a new, exceptional, and unaccustomed fashion; to reveal its possibilities for producing physical shock; to divide and distribute it actively in space; to deal with intonations in an absolutely concrete manner, restoring their power to shatter as well as to manifest something; to turn against language and its basely utilitarian, one could say alimentary, sources, against its trapped-beast origins; and finally, to consider language as the form of incantation (Artaud 46).The language in Ubu Roi tests the limits of language in much this way. There is no stage. Artaud further explains his view of theater when he writes, Cruelty: Without an element of cruelty at the root of every spectacle, the theater is not possible. His theories, based in part on Cambodian andBalinese dance, extol a form of "total theater," where visual images,gesture, light, sound, and noise take precedence over the written or spokenword. Towards a Poor Theatre. Theseare "holy actors" who, through a period of intense training, have ridthemselves by a process of elimination of their habitual screening devices. As Grotowskistates, "Art is a ripening, an evolution, an uplifting which enables us toemerge from darkness into a blaze of light" (Grotowski 256). Everything is so intimate, so shared with the spectator, it isas if they are partners in the play. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968.Jarry, Alfred. This production is in a chamber theater. Our "theater of cruelty" production has the spectator in the centersurround by the spectacle of the play (Artaud 81). In this production of Ubu Roi, theactors appear to physically transform themselves in close view of theaudience. Grotowski's approach to theater centers on the actor. Fabricated Beings, puppets, mannequins, robots, and cyborgs of adisquieting nature all seem a natural enhancement of the grotesqueries ofthe Jarry play. The disquieting appearances of embodiments of thecharacters' basest instincts in the most unexpected moments enhances theabsurd humor of the play. Images of crime, love, war, andmadness all assault the audience in a revolving spectacle which spreads its"visual and sonorous outbursts" (Artaud 86) over the entirety, reignitingits tired psyche with "intense and sudden shocks to revive ourunderstanding" (Artaud 86). In our present state of degeneration it is through the skin that metaphysics must be made to re-enter our minds (Artaud 99).The schoolboy cruelty of King Ubu, its invented language, and itsoutrageous humor make it an apt subject for an Artaud-likeapproach. This potent combination is used to disturb the subconscious of theaudience and kindle their imaginations. The Ubu Plays. The vocal demands on the actors are extreme as theycreate new sounds, new noise, new vibrations from the text. Sound and violentphysical images swirl about the viewers. "Humor as Destruction" is an important part of this vivid productionas well (Artaud 87). Theactors are very close to the audience. I shall remain in your midst like an animated citadel, and the rest of you will gravitate around me. Works CitedArtaud, Antonin. Costumes are ritualistic; masks are often but not always used;musical instruments enhance the work, from ancient drums to the newestsynthesizer's sonic extremes; and lasers and very special lights play theirpart as the "fusillades of fiery arrows" (Artaud 95) that Artaud dreamed.All can now be realized with our current technology. These images are often shocking,but as Artaud explains, "We are not free, and the sky can still fall on ourheads; and the theater exists to remind us of this fact" (Artaud 79). The commonality of Artaud and Grotowski is the element of shock, withArtaud willing to use whatever outside element he can find to create ashock, and with Grotowski plowing the actor's body, mind, and soul tocreate a human instrument capable of invoking that shock in a sharedcommunion with the spectator. In histheater, gone are the outside trappings of the previous production, meaningno masks, no mannequins, no fancy music, no synthesizers, and no laserlighting. Alfred Jarry's King Ubu displays "the spirit of profound anarchywhich is the root of all poetry" (Artaud 42), and this can be seen in ActIV of the play as Pa Ubu states, We'll stay on top of this hill and we'll not be so silly as to venture down. The physical skill, vocal powers, andreactivity of the performers carry the play and build art. New York: Grove Press, 1968. In Grotowski's theater, there are two reasons forexploration: One is to "define what is distinctly theater, what separatesthis activity from other categories of performance and spectacles"(Grotowski 15), and the second is to "consider the personal and scenictechnique of the actor as the core of theater art" (Grotowski 15). New York: Grove Press, 1958.Grotowski, Jerzy. Jarry already has created characters who revealtheir intellectual deformities as physical embodiments, and the moredisquieting their transformation, the more off-putting. The Theater and Its Double. They are actors withbodies "freed from resistance," and so, open to revelation. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.