Театр және оның көлеңкесі

1938 essay collection by Antonin Artaud

The Theatre and Its Double (Le Théâtre et son Double) is a 1938 collection of essays by French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud. It contains his most famous works on the theatre, including his manifestos for a Theatre of Cruelty.

Artaud looked to revitalize life through theatre, bringing about a transformation of the audience and society. His work was an attack on theatrical convention and theater's overemphasis on written and spoken language. For example, in No More Masterpieces, Artaud attacks what he believed to be the elitism of an irrelevant, outdated literary/theatrical canon, calling for theatre "to finally do away with the idea of masterpieces reserved for the so called elite, but incomprehensible to the masses". :53

Two key themes are the "double" and "cruelty". :35 Prior to beginning the translation, Richards had collaborated in a close reading of the text with John Cage and David Tudor at Black Mountain College. Cage credited this close reading as the impetus for Theater Piece No.1, a 1951 performance art event regarded as the first Happening. Participants included Robert Rauschenberg, Charles Olson, David Tudor and Merce Cunningham. Afterwards, Tudor encouraged Richards to begin translating the text. Richards' translation introduced Artaud to the avant garde scene in America, and is still considered to be the definitive English translation of the text. It is still read, and strongly influenced the directing philosophies of such renowned avant garde and contemporary groups and figures as Peter Brook, The Living Theatre, The Open Theatre