"Theatre of Cruelty" is a short ''

Discworld ''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat pla ...

'' story by

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first nov ...

written in 1993. The name derives from a concept of

Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...

(

Theatre of Cruelty The Theatre of Cruelty (french: Théâtre de la Cruauté, also french: Théâtre cruel) is a form of theatre generally associated with Antonin Artaud. Artaud, who was briefly a member of the surrealist movement, outlined his theories in ''The Theat ...

). It was originally written for

W. H. Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...

''Bookcase'' magazine and was then slightly modified and extended, being published again in the programme of the OryCon 15 convention, and then again in '' The Wizards of Odd'', a compilation of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

short stories. It has since been made available on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

along with dozens of translations by fans, with Pratchett having stated, "I don't want to see it distributed in print anywhere but don't mind people downloading it for their own enjoyment." The story involves both the

Ankh-Morpork City Watch The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is the police force of the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork in the ''Discworld'' series by the English writer Terry Pratchett. The Watch, its growth and development, and its inner workings are explored through a series ...

and a parallel of

Punch and Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character w ...

. A murder has been committed: a street entertainer, found apparently battered to death with a very small blunt object, on him bite marks from a very small crocodile. Investigating the incident in his typically direct manner,

Carrot Ironfoundersson The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is the police force of the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork in the ''Discworld'' series by the English writer Terry Pratchett. The Watch, its growth and development, and its inner workings are explored through a series ...

discovers the death was an accident, the man having choked on a

swazzle A swazzle (swozzle, schwazzle or swatchel) is a device made of two strips of metal bound around a cotton tape reed. The device is used to produce the distinctive harsh, rasping voice of Punch in a Punch and Judy show, and is held in the mouth by th ...

. It emerges that the entertainer had invented a parallel, live-action version of

, using — and abusing — a troupe of

gnome A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

s as the live cast. Carrot asserts that such brutal theatre could never find favour in

Ankh-Morpork Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which features prominently in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' fantasy novels. Overview Pratchett describes Ankh-Morpork as the biggest city in Discworld and its corrupt mercantile capital. In ''The Art o ...

: "That's not the way to do it".

External links

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"Theatre of Cruelty"
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