LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 18:7 July 2018
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Cruel Dreams: Formation of Contemporary Theatre of Cruelty in
Edward Albee’s The American Dream

Nandini Saxena, Ph.D.


Courtesy: https://www.amazon.com/American-Dream-Zoo-Story/dp/0452278899

Abstract

Edward Albee’s The American Dream (1961) mirrors the degenerative contemporary American society, which was then living in the false shadow of much touted ‘American Dream’ . Action of the play moves through the narration and execution of cruel intentions of the characters, who are chasing a materialistically fulfilling life. The employed cruelty functions as a source to keep the audience glued to the events of the play. Albee’s effort to impact the viscera of the audience by creating a sensitive physical language that includes bodily movements, loud expressions, gestures, grunts, screams, and sonorous effects sets parallels between him and French theorist Antonin Artaud. Artaud formulated the theory of Theatre of Cruelty, in which he considered cruelty to be the essential part of theatre. He distrusted language for the purpose of establishing a meaningful communication and advocated a concrete language of stage with is accentuated with gestures, sound, music and lights to hit the nerves of the audience.

This paper aims to examine Edward Albee’s The American Dream in the light of Antonin Artaud’s theory of Theatre of Cruelty. The theoretical lens of theory of ‘Theatre of Cruelty’ provides a broad spectrum to investigate and understand how cruelty is employed in the play in order to awaken the audience against the crude realities of American society.

Keywords: Antonin Artaud, Concrete Language, Edward Albee, Theatre of Cruelty, Violence.

1. Introduction

Edward Albee was one of the most iconoclastic playwright of America, who revolutionized American theatre through his innovative dramatic art. Albee has attacked the degrative human values held by the materialistic, and emotionally barren American society very much in the Artaudian style.

Antonin Artaud was a French actor, director, and theorist, whose radical ideas about theatre are contained in his book The Theatre and Its Double (1931). His ideas of Theatre of Cruelty are quite eccentric and could not be well understood by the contemporary theatre personalities however, after his death, his ideas were embraced by many poststructuralist intellectuals of twentieth century. He has influenced modern theatre artists “who have sought to eradicate the traditional viewpoint of text as supreme authority in an effort to establish a more immersive relationship with audience” (Delano 1).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Nandini Saxena
Ph.D. Manipal University, Jaipur, India
TF-37, Vardaan Apt-2, Abhay-khand-3, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad
Me_nan2008@rediffmail.com

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