Coetzee, Marie-Heleen2017-05-122017-05-122017-05-032016De Wet, M 2016, Directing 'The Absolute' : towards destabilising the victim/perpetrator binary in Sam Shepard's A lie of the mind (1985), MA Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/60354>A2017http://hdl.handle.net/2263/60354Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016.This study aims to investigate and directorially apply Antonin Artaud's concept of The Absolute in order to destabilise the victim/perpetrator binary between the characters Beth and Jake in Sam Shepard's play text, A lie of the mind (1986). Previous theoretical analyses of Beth and Jake in A lie of the mind frame them as victims of their circumstances and as victims and perpetrators of violence (Bottoms 1998:16). I will explore the violent relationship between them in the context of the victim/perpetrator binary set up in the original play and re-imagine this binary by creating a radical reinterpretation of the relationship between the characters in a theatre production titled ? (2015). I argue that a directorial treatment of The Absolute assists in destabilising the victim/perpetrator binary present in Beth and Jake's relationship. To reinterpret Beth and Jake's relationship, I explore René Girard's notions of violence, victimisation, and scapegoating, as well as the Artaudian notions of Cruelty, The Absolute, and the Theatre of Cruelty. I apply the Girardian concepts and vocabulary to a reading of the relationship between Beth and Jake. I also discuss the ways in which Artaud and Girard conceptually relate to one another. I then provide a practical exploration within the framework of the Theatre of Cruelty by creating an original production, ? (2015), in which The Absolute facilitates the destabilisation of the victim/perpetrator binary that exists between Beth and Jake. In ? (2015), the relationship between Beth and Jake is reconceptualised and reinterpreted through taking cognisance of the Artaudian-Girardian framework. This dissertation concludes that Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty and the notion of The Absolute are able to destabilise the victim/perpetrator binary between Beth and Jake by replacing sexual desire in their relationship with transcendental love, and reconstructing and reimagining their relationship accordingly.en© 2017 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.The AbsoluteTheatre of CrueltyTranscendental loveVictimisationUCTDDissertation10318969