The Theatre of Cruelty
The Theatre of Cruelty was established as an independent theatre company in 1989 by artistic leader and founder is Lars Øyno. Since 2002 the company has had its own venue in the street of Hausmannsgate, no. 34, in Oslo.
The Theatre of Cruelty produces performances within the physical theatre tradition and has become known for performances that draw their fundamental inspiration from theatre legend Antonin Artaud's vision of an anatomical theatre.
Information
(Objekt ID 137)| Object type | Organization |
| Also known as | Grusomhetens Teater |
| Organization type | Theatre company |
| Main focus | Theatre |
| Established | 1989 |
| larsoyno@online.no | |
| Website | Grusomhetens Teater |
| Expressions | Theatre |
Contact information
| Address | Peter Aas' vei 4A, 0667 Oslo, Norway |
| larsoyno@online.no | |
| Telefon | (+47) 91 32 56 39 |
Other information
| Legal entity | Sole Proprietorship/Self-employed business/ENK |
| Org nr. | 974 907 283 |
| Member of | The Norwegian Association of Performing Arts/NAPA |
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 (according to Dagbladet) that shines through as more truthful than most of the other offers proposed by the theatre and cultural industry (according to 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, The Theatre of Cruelty has developed its own take on the anatomical tradition, and is set to try to reconcile modernism's 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 in Norway and abroad, and the company frequently collaborates with other theatre companies and institutions.
The Mountain Bird by The Theatre of Cruelty was nominated for The Hedda Award 2009 in the category of theatre event of the year.
The Theatre of Cruelty is supported by The Norwegian Culture Fund/Arts Council Norway.
Source:
The Theatre of Cruelty, grusomhetensteater.no, 15.08.2010, http://www.grusomhetensteater.no/
| Title | Premiere |
|---|---|
| Røde Emma | – September 9, 2021 |
| The Raven | – September 11, 2020 |
| A Streetcar Named Desire | – October 24, 2019 |
| Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | – October 25, 2018 |
| Lament II | – February 20, 2018 |
| Venus & Mars | – December 14, 2017 |
| I is another | – January 26, 2017 |
| Proud Cloud | – April 27, 2016 |
| What a Glorious Day! | – March 10, 2016 |
| Lament | – October 9, 2015 |
| What a Glorious Day! | – December 18, 2014 |
| Svanhild | – March 14, 2014 |
| Antonin Artauds Revolusjonære Budskap | – March 8, 2013 |
| What a Glorious Day! | – March 21, 2012 |
| Amazonas | – October 21, 2011 |
| Amazonas | – October 15, 2011 |
| What a Glorious Day! | – March 18, 2011 |
| Last Song | – December 4, 2009 |
| The Mountain Bird | – April 18, 2009 |
| Theatre & Science | – Navember 16, 2007 |
| The Ugly Duckling | – Navember 11, 2006 |
| The Fountain of Blood | – February 15, 2005 |
| The Gospel According to Thomas | – October 28, 2004 |
| The Dollhouse | – April 5, 2003 |
| Peer Gynt | – October 25, 2002 |
| Alaska | – January 22, 2001 |
| Poetics | – September 15, 2000 |
| Black Sun | – April 8, 1999 |
| The Philosophers' Stone | – May 1, 1997 |
| Woyzeck | – September 4, 1996 |
| Storyteller | – October 20, 1995 |
| The Road to Heaven | – June 1, 1995 |
| The World of Jotner | – 1994 |
| To Have Done with the Judgement of God | – Navember 26, 1993 |
| Peace | – October 20, 1992 |
| Title | Premiere |
|---|---|
| Mortgage | – April 25, 2019 – David Glass Ensemble, Created a Monster |
| Lars Øyno | – Artistic director |