Brecht and Artaud

 Bertolt Brecht:

    Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theater director. Brecht developed a groundbreaking directing style that influenced many directors and designers over the decades. Brecht was a Marxist and chose to make his theater highly political. Brecht wanted his theater to spark an interest in his audiences' perception of the world through a range of theatrical devices known as epic theater, which is a type of political theater that addresses contemporary issues. Some techniques that Brecht used achieve this were breaking the fourth wall, using montages, including song, music, and dance in his theater, using narration, creating a minimal set, costumes, props, and lighting, having actors come out of character, and more. Brecht's works were mischievous, provocative, and ironic and aimed to invite the audience to make rational judgements about the political aspects of the work, be critical of society, and to avoid any emotional attachment to the characters in the works. 

Antonin Artaud:

    Antonin Artaud was the developer of "the theater of cruelty," which aimed to shock audiences through gesture, image, sound and lighting. Artaud wanted to disrupt the relationship between the audience and the performer and felt that it was necessary to go beyond words and connect with the audience through emotions. He believed that gesture and movement were more powerful than text and sound and lighting could also be used as tools of sensory disruption. the word "cruelty" in "the theater of cruelty" is meant to represent sensory experiences - the capacity of a work to shock and confront the audience. Artaud thought that the audience should be placed at the center of a piece of performance.