Building a virtual reality model of Artaud’s theatre of cruelty
Stephen A. Schrum, Elliot Sheedy · Metaverse Creativity · 2012
In his manifestos, theatre theorist Antonin Artaud called for a ‘theatre of cruelty’ that would immerse the spectators in the theatrical experience, causing a delirium or trance-like state in the audience. However, even Artaud’s own experiments towards staging his concepts failed to achieve his intended goal. In this article, the authors suggest examining Artaud through a contemporary lens, and attempt to stage what Artaud theorized by utilizing the digital technology of virtual reality (VR). (In fact, Artaud used the term, ‘La realite virtuell’, in his book, The Theatre and Its Double (1958), though he was, in no way, referring to the modern technological realm.) To examine the possibilities of using VR to implement Artaudian ideas, the authors began by creating a model of the Theatre of Cruelty using the online 3D virtual environment, Second Life® (SL). Through a close reading of Artaud’s writings, Schrum and Sheedy built structures called for by Artaud. When the structures had been completed, the authors saw that they had not accounted for the living actor, a necessary ingredient in theatre, and one that Artaud found indispensable. They then set out to devise a theatrical production in SL, incorporating live performers, and following the same procedures (such as casting and scenic and costume design) one uses in creating a real-world theatre performance. The resulting production of Prometheus Bound (1926) used a variety of methods taken from Artaud’s writings, poems and performances (as well as references to scholarship on Artaud’s work). In the end, while they staged a successful virtual theatre production of the ancient Greek tragedy, they determined the current state of digital technology is not yet sufficiently developed to realize fully Artaud’s vision, though the production did lay the foundation for further exploration in this arena.