Scenen - Grusomhetens Teater

Based in a venue of its own in Oslo, Theatre of Cruelty regularly presents original work for stage which draws inspiration from its namesake concept of theatre formulated by the French visionary and poet Antonin Artaud. Since its foundation in 1989, the company has produced 15 original plays, including notably Elagabal, To Have Done With the Judgement of God, The Road to Heaven, Woyzeck, and in the recent years the highly acclaimed adaptations of Ibsens Peer Gynt and the apocryphal The Gospel According to Thomas. 2005 will see a much-anticipated staging of Artauds notoriously unplayable A Spurt of Blood, and the group is expected to tour with its most recent productions nationally and internationally.

Founded at a time when the Norwegian dramatic art had seemingly bid farewell to avant-garde theatre, Theatre of Cruelty is today widely recognised for its gripping, truly original theatrical language (Dagbladet) that shines through as more truthful than most of the other offers proposed by the theatre and cultural industry (Klassekampen). The company echoes Artaud in its ambition to not merely reenact reality, but try to extract the convulsive essence of life and thus awake a genuine experience in the audience. Over the course of the years, Theatre of Cruelty has developed its own take on the anatomical tradition, and is set to try to reconcile modernisms ideal of pure theatre and a more socially responsible literary theatre. Although the company takes a dramatic work or other text material as a starting point, the word is not considered essential to the communication and often recedes into the image as a whole. The musicality of the body thus serves as a governing, universal principle for the staging.

Thematically, the work of Theatre of Cruelty has, along its consistent interest in marginal existences in the society, in recent years centred on the anatomy of self-destructiveness and loss of meaning present in the contemporary Western society, and the resuscitation of the human subject and the fundamental principles of insight and empathy. In his intent to tear down the walls between theatre and audience, and between the seemingly anarchic universe of Artaud and his opponents, the director Lars Øyno frequently brings in contemporary or historical, theoretical as well as artistic references which help clarify and validate the message.

The director Lars Øyno has delivered lectures and workshops both in Norway and abroad, and the company frequently collaborates with other theatre groups and institutions.

Theatre of Cruelty is supported by The Norwegian Arts Fund from Arts Council of Norway.