There is no empty space in nature, which we do not believe that, at one time, or another, the human mind can't fill.
It is clear what a terrible task we have undertaken, we aim to do nothing less than return to the sources, human or inhuman, of the theatre and raise it from the dead. All that partakes of the obscurity and magnetic fascination of dreams, those dark strata of consciousness which are all the concern us in mind, we want to see all this radiate and triumph on stage,
even if it means destroying ourselves and exposing ourselves to the ridicule of a colossal failure.
Nor are we afraid of the kind of commitment our effort represents. We conceive the theatre as an authentic performance of magic.
We do not address ourselves to the eyes, or to the direct emotion of the soul, what we are trying to create is a certain metaphysical emotion in which the inmost motives of the heart will be laid bare toward this ideal theatre we ourselves are groping blindly.
Regardless of the degree of success of our performances, those who attend them will understand that they are participating in a mystical experiment by which an important part of the domain of the mind and consciousness may be definitively saved or lost.
Antonin Artaud,
November 13, 1926.
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