Artaud Unbound
Film & radio scenarios by
Antonin Artaud
September 2011
The Latvian Society Theater
A midseason homage to the works of Antonin Artaud.
This centerpiece of EgoPo’s Theatre of Cruelty Season, co-produced with B.R.A.T. Productions, was a series of four world premier adaptations of Artaud's rarely produced silent films, radio scenarios, and manifestos. Audiences entered a candle-lit gothic parlor filled with draped cabaret tables, sipping red wine and nibbling on French hors d'œuvres as these unusual and never-before-seen works came to life.
Thirty-Two
Adapted from the silent film scenario by Tom Sellar
Directed & conceived by Lane Savadove
Cast
Ed Swidey
Cindy Spitko
Rachel O’Hanlon-Rodriguez
Karina Balfour
Laura Fullerton
Jenna Kuerzi
Kelsey Malone
The Butcher’s Revolt
Adapted from the silent film scenario
Directed and conceived by Brenna Geffers
Cast
David Blatt
Megan Snell (Hoke)
Manifestos and Spurt of Blood
Adapted from Artaud’s play and his manifestos
Directed & conceived by Michael Alltop
Cast
David Blatt
Megan Snell (Hoke)
Rachel O’Hanlon-Rodriguez
K. O’Rourke
Ed Swidey
Michael Alltop
To Have Done With the Judgment of God
Adapted from the radio play
Directed and conceived by Mathew Wright
Cast
L.J. Norelli
Nancy Ellis
Cindy Spitko
About Antonin Artaud
Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media.
He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely recognized as a major figure of the European avant-garde, he had a particularly strong influence on twentieth-century theatre through his conceptualization of the Theatre of Cruelty.
Known for his raw, surreal and transgressive work, his texts explored themes from the cosmologies of ancient cultures, philosophy, the occult, mysticism and indigenous Mexican and Balinese practices.