theater of cruelty

noun

1. a form of surrealist theater originated by Antonin Artaud and emphasizing the cruelty of human existence by portraying sadistic acts and intense suffering.

Word History and Origins

Origin of theater of cruelty¹

1950–55; translation of French théâtre de la cruauté

Example Sentences

In the 1930s, an entire movement — the Theater of Cruelty — was formulated, in the words of its founder, Antonin Artaud, to “subvert thought and logic and to shock the spectator into seeing the baseness of his world.”

From New York Times

It approaches Antonin Artaud’s theater of cruelty.

From Los Angeles Times

Kaprow himself was taking a course in experimental music at the New School led by John Cage, who taught not only his own principles of ambient sound but also the precedents of the early 20th-century European avant-garde — Dada, Surrealism, the “theater of cruelty” of Antonin Artaud.

From New York Times

Mr. Brook had made great use of improvisation and theater games when he was rehearsing “The Balcony,” and in 1964, he took that process further in a series of experimental workshops financed by the R.S.C. and called the Theater of Cruelty season, in tribute to the theories of the French dramatist Antonin Artaud.

From New York Times

In Oslo, she lands an apprenticeship at The Theater of Cruelty and begins working on a project with local Syrian refugees, only to bungle it all with poor decisions and selfish lies — a turn that finally prompts some soul-searching.

From New York Times