Exploring Artaud’s Vision

Lesson Overview

Subject: Drama
Year Group: 10
Lesson Duration: 60 minutes
Unit: Exploring Artaud's Cruelty (Lesson 2 of 8)
Lesson Title: Understanding the Theatre of Cruelty

Curriculum Links

GCSE Drama (AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC)

• Component: Exploring Practitioners
• Focus: Antonin Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty
• Skills Developed: Physical and vocal experimentation, abstract performance techniques, audience manipulation

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will:

1. Understand the key principles of Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty.
2. Explore how Artaud aimed to provoke emotional and sensory responses.
3. Experiment with abstract and non-verbal performance techniques.

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Lesson Structure (60 Minutes)

Starter Activity (10 minutes) – Shattering Comfort Zones

• As students enter, the classroom is dimly lit with unsettling soundscapes playing (whispers, sudden echoes, heartbeat sounds).
• Without explanation, the teacher moves around unpredictably, maintaining intense eye contact, incorporating small unsettling movements to create discomfort.
• After 2 minutes, students are told to sit, and are asked:
  • How did that make you feel?
  • Did anything unnerve you or make you react physically?
  • Why do we feel uneasy when we are placed outside familiar theatrical conventions?
• Brief introduction to Artaud’s belief that theatre should provoke, not entertain.

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Main Activity 1 (15 minutes) – Artaud in Practice

• Teacher Explanation:
  • Artaud rejected traditional theatre. His Theatre of Cruelty aimed to assault the senses, using intense sounds, anarchic movement, and disturbing imagery.
  • He believed language was secondary to raw expression through the body and voice.
• Group Discussion:
  • Students, in small groups, analyse what “cruelty” means in this context (not literal violence, but an emotional purge).
  • Groups feedback their conclusions.
• Physical Warm-Up:
  • Students perform exaggerated facial expressions and guttural vocal sounds while controlling their breathing (matching Artaud’s belief that theatre should be a visceral, full-body experience).

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Main Activity 2 (20 minutes) – The Ritual Performance Exercise

• Task: In small groups (3–4), students create a short, abstract physical performance focusing purely on emotion and sensory engagement.
• Instructions:
  • No spoken dialogue – only movement, sound, and vocalisation.
  • Incorporate repetitive, unnatural gestures.
  • Use contrasts – sudden stillness followed by violent motion.
  • Consider how rhythm and breath affect tension in the audience.
• Challenge:
  • One group performs while the rest watch in silence, sensing how the performance makes them feel rather than focusing on interpretation.
  • Audience gives feedback using single descriptive words, avoiding analytic responses (e.g. “chaotic,” “uncomfortable,” “oppressive”).

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Plenary (10 minutes) – Reflecting on Impact

• Circle discussion:
  • How did it feel creating a performance without conventional storytelling?
  • Did any moments make you feel genuine discomfort – and why?
  • How does Artaud’s approach differ from what you're used to?
• Students write one takeaway in their journal:
  • One statement on how Theatre of Cruelty challenges traditional drama.

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Assessment and Homework

Formative Assessment (In-lesson Observation)

• Evaluation of participation in discussions and physical performances.
• Assess willingness to experiment and push past comfort zones.

Homework Task

• Find a visual stimulus (e.g. artwork, photograph) that evokes intense emotion.
• Write a short journal entry explaining how this image could be translated into performance using Artaud’s principles.

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Resources Needed

• Sound effects for the starter (echoes, whispers, heartbeat sounds).
• A dimmable space (or alternative lighting adjustments).
• Open space for movement-based work.

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Teacher Reflection Post-Lesson

1. Did students engage fully with the idea of abstraction in performance?
2. Were they able to push past their natural inhibitions to explore uncomfortable physicality and sound?
3. How can their understanding of Theatre of Cruelty be further developed in the next lesson?

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Next Lesson Preview

Lesson 3: "Breaking Language – Exploring Artaud’s Use of Sound and Gesture"

• Deep dive into vocal distortion, primal sounds, and the breakdown of conventional storytelling structures.

Teacher's Note: Aim to maintain Artaud’s instinctive energy throughout the unit by keeping exercises intense, immersive, and sensory-driven.