Antonin Artaud (1896-1948) inaugurated the Theater of Cruelty, a dramatic movement that has had a profound influence on avant-garde theater in Europe and the U.S. The movement is exemplified by the Peter Brook production of Marat-Sade. This book was the first to analyze Artaud's theories, their sources, and the extent to which he implemented them in his own plays. New Foreword by Peter Thompson.