Artaud was inspired by the performance of a Balinese dance. He had not seen any performance like it previously and was struck by the dancers' intense physicality. Just like in dance, Artaud's theatre of cruelty focuses on conveying feelings and emotions not through dialogue, but through physical movements.
The goal of theatre of cruelty was to shock audiences. Because of this, sometimes movements and images used might feel like they were confronting or may have even been considered violent. Artaud claimed that the theatre of cruelty was an enhanced double of real life as can be found in his work The Theatre and Its Double. It also claims that if this is the case, life also has to be the double of theatre.
Artaud's theories were never realized in an extremely accessible form. This makes it difficult to interpret what he meant. Nonetheless, performances still take place in which people try to put on shows in the style of theatre of cruelty.
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