What does it mean to transgress a law on the stage? I distinguish two types of theatrical transgressions: represented or 'material' transgressions, which are part of the dramatic storyline, and scenical or 'formal' transgressions, which violate the laws of the theatre itself. In the first chapter, I argue that the developments of the 20th century have made impossible a clear distinction of the two types. A material transgression is never enacted without the formal laws of staging being infringed. It is mainly the systematical provocations of avant-garde theatre that are responsible for this. I illustrate my position drawing on the 'death-theory of the avant-garde' (Burger, Foster, Mann)
In order to study theatrical transgression in its most extreme form, I focus on the work of avant-garde director and reformer Antonin Artaud. His theatrical designs and his writings aim at a generalization of theatrical transgression. The 2nd chapter deals with methodological considerations. Chapters 3 and 4 provide a philosophical framework for the concept of generalized transgression, drawing on the philosophy of religion (antinomianism) and the philosophy of mathematics (self-referential paradoxes)
Chapters 5 to 7 explore three different aspects of Artaud's transposition of generalized transgression to the stage. In chapter 5, his notion of "spectacle integral" leads to an examination of the play 'Les Cenci'. I argue that 'Les Cenci' is a manierist drama that forcefully avoids any moralist or sentimental closure of the violent dramatical events. Chapter 6 studies Artaud's cathartical doctrine. His contradictory ideas about the theatre as an instrument for purification turn out to be closely linked to his fascination with Elizabethan revenge tragedy. Again, the manierism of these plays is crucial, because it helps to construct a 'philosophical theatre'. In chapter 7, Artaud's theatrical designs and productions are used to complement the influential reading of his writings by Derrida, which I show to be incomplete. Artaud's uncountable parodies and appropriations of dramatical texts and theatrical conventions are rarely taken into account
The last chapter analyses a case of a contemporary 'theatre of transgression', namely the 'Tragedia Endogonidia' by the Italian company Societas Raffaello Sanzio (directed by Romeo Castellucci)
