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Q-1: Comment on Artaud’s views on the language of theatre. How it is different from language and speech in the ordinary sense.
Or
Discuss Artaud’s views on oriental and Occidental theatre.
Answer:-
Considered among the
most influential figures in the evolution of modern drama theory, Antonin Artaud associated himself with the
surrealist writers, artists and experimental theatre
groups in Paris during the 1920’s. When political difference
resulted in his break from the surrealists, he found the Alfred Jarry Theatre Group with Roger Vilorac and Robert Arm. Together
they wanted to create a forum for works that could radically change the French
Theatre. Artaud, specially expressed disdain for ‘Western Theatre’ of the day,
panning the ordered plot and scripted language by his contemporaries. Artaud
recorded his ideas regarding dramatic theory in such works like “Le Theothe de
la Cruaute” and “The
Theatre and its Double”.
Artaud
asserts that in the occidental version of theatre words are everything.
The problem is that occidental culture imposes the supremacy speech over
everything that takes place on a theatre stage. Consequently this brand of
theatre relegates the ‘mise-en-scene’ to
an inferior level of art. According to Artaud if theatre is to be restored
to its original intention as an art form of expression, it becomes necessary
for these roles to be reversed. Because, theatre speaks directly to the mind
instead of to the region. The art of mise-en-scene needs to create a visual materialization
of speech which will then be played on the stage as a part of the drama. The
author says that the problem of occidental theatre is that western art and
cultural always confused art with aestheticism.
Artaud occupied the
theatrical space unlike any other thinker in the field of Western Drama. Artaud
is very difficult to engage within the context of his positions and arguments
if one approaches him from the customary or excepted structures of dramatic
practice. Artaud didn’t see life and theatre as separate. For him there was to be no “drama” in
the theatre, no hyprocracy, no pretension, no illusion but for him theatre is
the space where life itself finds manifestation.
Antonin
Artaud starts his essay by criticizing Occidental theatre
which is based on scripts and written language. But Artaud
theory is based on the Oriental Version of theatre and more specifically a kind
of theatre enacted by the people of Indonessia which he refered as Balinese
theatre. Such theatre realize heavily on the uses of a kind of
pictures that was used in
ancient Egypt as scripts. These pictures are abstrupt figures but they
convey concrete meaning. Although the essay is titled ‘Oriental and Occidental
Theatre”. But the essay is not balance sheet where two different theatrical
traditions are marshaled for comparative, evalution. Infact Artaud’s focused is
on the purpose of theatre and what the execution of the dramatic principles.
In
the essay Artaud initiates the discussion by arguing that focus on drama as a
text has taken deep root taken in the West. What it had also meant that the
language of the theatre has come to be seen as another instance of literature
which Artaud referred as special kind of languages. In this sense a dramatist
should used some specific vocabulary which should be realistic presentation of
character’s languages.
Instead
of seeing the theatre just as another platform for the articulation of social
conflicts, Artaud writes that the objective of the theatre, “Is not to resolve
social and psychological conflicts, to serve as battle field for moral
passions, but to express objectively certain secrete truth to brings into the
light of they by means of active gestures certain aspects of truth that have
been buried.” In a famous passage he talks about the impossibility of translating
the true feeling into the expression. Artaud refers to the need to recognize
the importance of letting thing just be which can only be possible only in
theatre. In other words he is not rejecting the importance of speech but a
shift in role and function of speech when it comes to the theatre. Antonia
Artaud has contributed greatly to the development of modern theatre especially
to the French Theatre. Artaud’s impact was so profound that the course of all
recent serious theatre in Western Europe and in America can be said to divide
into two periods- before Artaud and after Artaud.
Q 2. Why and how does Antonin Artaud want to separate theatre
from the idea of a performed text.
Or, How can Oriental Theatre offered an
alternative and facilited a new theatrical idiot.
Or, Why
it is necessary in the view of Artaud to change the role of speech in the
theatre.(without speech settings)
Answer:-
“The theatre and its double” is a collection of
essays by French author and theatre critic Antonin Artaud written in 1920’s.
In this book the author tries to establish a basic theory that is meant to
redefined the art of theatre using a radical and revolutionary approach,
relying mostly on the art of “mise-en-scene”- a French expression that refers
to everything in theatre that should be managed in order to produce a play
including direction,
production and staging. The concept establishes a relationship
between theatre
and life. In Artaud’s mind theatre and reality
are two entitles and live in separate spheres, as such they doubled each other
that is why he titled his book as “The theatre and its double.”
Antonin Artaud starts by criticizing occidental
theatre which is based on scripts and written language. Artaud shows that language has lost its emotional
and logical value because it is frozen in time and too remote
from life. In both modern and classical literature language serves mainly as a
support for psychology and the characters are more important than the action
happens on the stage. The masterpieces of theatre are outdated because they
were written for another era. Artaud intension is
to create a new theatrical language which would allow the director to work as a
creator instead of a translator of the author. His theory is
based on the oriental version of theatre and more specifically the Balinese (Indonesian
language of the people of Bali). Such a theatre relies mostly on the uses of
hieroglyphs (writing technique of ancient Egyptian people by using different
pictures) which use Abstract figures to convey concrete meaning.
Artaud says that for occidental theatre
the word is everything and there are no possibilities of expression without it.
The theatre is a branch of literature and even if we admit a difference between
the text spoken on the stage and the text read by the eyes and if we respect
theatre to discover its own languages we shall not manage to separate it from
the idea of a performed text. So, Artaud wants to distance theatre from the
printed words in order to developed theatres own pattern and power.
According to Artaud an image, an allegory
or a figure have more significance in the theatre than the speech. In this
connection he says, “This is why true beauty never strikes us directly. The
setting sun is beautiful because of all it makes us loss.” That is why in this
essay Artaud begins the discourse by referring to the Balinese dancers and the
completely different orientation that they offer to the Western Audience. He
says, “The Balinese theatre has revealed to us a physical of non-verbal idea of
the theatre in which the theatre is contained within the limits of everything
that can happen on the stage.”
In this essay Artaud presented a revolutionary theory regarding
the language of theatre. His concept is purely original and it open a new
window in theatrical presentation by new concept in setting of the scene which
effectively concerns the entire art structure of the stage. After Artaud
theatre has became a medium of conveying more meaning, more emotions and more
feelings with less speech.
Important Notice:- If you get any mistakes like typing, just ignore it & if it is useful to you just leave a comment on comment option. God Bless You All & Best of Luck.