How Did Anton's Fraud Contribute To Theatre

1211 Words3 Pages

Lacie Darby
Instructor A. French
FTCA 4400
15 April 2015
Title
Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud, best known as Antonin Artaud, was an anomalous yet astonishing French artist of the early 20th century who held an array of titles including poet, playwright, actor, director, and dramatic theorist. Artaud is profoundly associated with the Surrealist Movement of the 1920’s as well as avant-garde, or experimental, radical theatre. Although his innovative ideas surrounding theatre have influenced many popular writers and dramatists in history, Artaud received little to no success for his poetry, acting, or directing during his lifetime. His greatest contributions to theatre were his harsh and elaborate criticisms of dramatic art, which influenced playwrights …show more content…

Antonin’s parents, Euphrasia Nalpas and Antoine-Roi Artaud were wealthy residents of Marseille and came from a Greek/Turkish background. At the young age of four years old Antonin was diagnosed with a deadly case of spinal meningitis, a disease affecting the protective cells around the brain and spinal cord. A year later at age five, Artaud nearly died from the disease and began to suffer with chronic pain and a stammering speech. The mental and physical hardships commenced into his teens, causing severe bouts of clinical depression and nervous anxiety. Artaud was schooled at Coll’e du Sacre Coeur in Marseille where he first experimented with theatre, but he spent much of his childhood institutionalized in rehabilitation clinics due to his poor health. When Antonin suffered a neurasthenia attack causing extreme fatigue and damage to his nerves at age 19, he was treated in a resting clinic and prescribed opium for the first time (Hamm …show more content…

He was discharged only a year later for mental health issues, instability, and drug addiction. After leaving the army, Artaud checked himself into a Swiss clinic where he was prescribed more drugs and remained for 2 consecutive years. During his stay at the clinic, Artaud read often and was influenced by writers such as Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe. (???). Upon his discharge, Artaud decided to move to Paris and pursue writing. While composing a collection of poetry and essays in Paris, he also found a niche in avant-garde theatre—experimental theatre, astray from the norms of playwrights of the

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