Ubu Roi
Sun, 3 Mar 2002, 11:50 amToby1 post in thread
Ubu Roi
Sun, 3 Mar 2002, 11:50 amI don't like to review shows on here too often, purely because of the quite often negative ramifications of doing so. Also compromised by the fact that the producer, director, stage manager and much of the cast are good friends of mine, I put off writing anything on here, hoping that someone else would say what I wanted to say for me. No dice.
Here goes.
Ubu Roi, the first in Alfred Jarry's absurdist masterpiece trilogy, premiered in Paris in 1894 (or so!), complete with riots that shut down the initial production due to a perceived level of obscenity. Jarry conceived Ubu as a schoolboy, springing from farcical puppet shows, eventually evolving into Ubu Roi, a biting political satire based partly on Shakespeare's Macbeth. Set in pre-WWI Poland, we meet Pa and Ma Ubu, an obscene couple who stalk the stage, swearing and hurling insults at each other. As a hideous Lady Macbeth, Ma Ubu convinces Pa Ubu to kill the King of Poland, and to usurp his crown. Pa Ubu's reign of terror precipitates the death of most of the royal family, the execution of Poland's nobility, the heavy taxation of the people, and an eventual war against the Russians.
Shakespearience continues its extraordinary tradition of innovation - including Othello V Titus, A Clockwork Orange, Romeo and Juliet, and The Taming of the Shrew - in Nick Tapper's interpretation of Ubu Roi. A spectatular design, which features a complete re-modelling of the Blue Room to see the audience sitting almost two metres off the ground, around a large banquet table, as the play takes place before them on large slotted platforms, facilitating the extraordinary puppetry that comprises the backbone of Ubu Roi. The play is opened by large puppets reminiscent of Statler and Waldorf, the Critics from The Muppet Show, (and magnificently played by Heath Miller and Simon Clarke) who introduce the hour and a half of madness to follow. The audience is then assailed with more than a dozen characters, many of which are entirely in puppet form. Ian Bolgia's Pa Ubu is the only character who is entirely in human form, and reacts accordingly to the surprising world around him. Ian is a Blue Room regular who turns in a typically flawless performance, as he rants, raves, spits, swears, and mugs his way through the treacherous Polish accent he has adopted. Ma Ubu was perfectly cast as a broken-down old store-front mannequin, manipulated by Bree Short. Ma Ubu's passive demeanour is incredibly unnerving, as she schemes, writhes, and even fornicates, with a hauntingly glassy gaze adorning her features. Superb were Scott Koehler and Ben Ruse, playing several characters, both human and with puppet sidekicks. Particularly impressive was Koehler's interpretation of the transformation of young Prince Boggerlas from puppet into human - and the scene that preceded it (I don't want to give away all of the secrets!!).
Problems presented by the script (for example, the battle between Ubu and the Russian Army) were brilliantly addressed, and the energy of the cast held the audience captivated up until curtain call. Hilarious, confronting, disturbing, but ultimately incredibly impressive, Ubu Roi is looking like the first Blue Room must-see for the year (unless you count Filch...). Just a word to the wise - go the the toilet before the show - there is no way possible to get out of your seat once you are in, and there is no interval!
Once again, I urge you all to get along and support innovative West Australian theatre - Shakespearience are entirely locally based, and the only way that companies like this will continue to put on such exciting theatre is if they are able to play to such impressive houses as I saw on Friday. Just leave your preconceptions at home - you will be hard pressed to see such exciting theatre, entirely locally based, at such great prices.
SEE UBU.
Toby Malone
Here goes.
Ubu Roi, the first in Alfred Jarry's absurdist masterpiece trilogy, premiered in Paris in 1894 (or so!), complete with riots that shut down the initial production due to a perceived level of obscenity. Jarry conceived Ubu as a schoolboy, springing from farcical puppet shows, eventually evolving into Ubu Roi, a biting political satire based partly on Shakespeare's Macbeth. Set in pre-WWI Poland, we meet Pa and Ma Ubu, an obscene couple who stalk the stage, swearing and hurling insults at each other. As a hideous Lady Macbeth, Ma Ubu convinces Pa Ubu to kill the King of Poland, and to usurp his crown. Pa Ubu's reign of terror precipitates the death of most of the royal family, the execution of Poland's nobility, the heavy taxation of the people, and an eventual war against the Russians.
Shakespearience continues its extraordinary tradition of innovation - including Othello V Titus, A Clockwork Orange, Romeo and Juliet, and The Taming of the Shrew - in Nick Tapper's interpretation of Ubu Roi. A spectatular design, which features a complete re-modelling of the Blue Room to see the audience sitting almost two metres off the ground, around a large banquet table, as the play takes place before them on large slotted platforms, facilitating the extraordinary puppetry that comprises the backbone of Ubu Roi. The play is opened by large puppets reminiscent of Statler and Waldorf, the Critics from The Muppet Show, (and magnificently played by Heath Miller and Simon Clarke) who introduce the hour and a half of madness to follow. The audience is then assailed with more than a dozen characters, many of which are entirely in puppet form. Ian Bolgia's Pa Ubu is the only character who is entirely in human form, and reacts accordingly to the surprising world around him. Ian is a Blue Room regular who turns in a typically flawless performance, as he rants, raves, spits, swears, and mugs his way through the treacherous Polish accent he has adopted. Ma Ubu was perfectly cast as a broken-down old store-front mannequin, manipulated by Bree Short. Ma Ubu's passive demeanour is incredibly unnerving, as she schemes, writhes, and even fornicates, with a hauntingly glassy gaze adorning her features. Superb were Scott Koehler and Ben Ruse, playing several characters, both human and with puppet sidekicks. Particularly impressive was Koehler's interpretation of the transformation of young Prince Boggerlas from puppet into human - and the scene that preceded it (I don't want to give away all of the secrets!!).
Problems presented by the script (for example, the battle between Ubu and the Russian Army) were brilliantly addressed, and the energy of the cast held the audience captivated up until curtain call. Hilarious, confronting, disturbing, but ultimately incredibly impressive, Ubu Roi is looking like the first Blue Room must-see for the year (unless you count Filch...). Just a word to the wise - go the the toilet before the show - there is no way possible to get out of your seat once you are in, and there is no interval!
Once again, I urge you all to get along and support innovative West Australian theatre - Shakespearience are entirely locally based, and the only way that companies like this will continue to put on such exciting theatre is if they are able to play to such impressive houses as I saw on Friday. Just leave your preconceptions at home - you will be hard pressed to see such exciting theatre, entirely locally based, at such great prices.
SEE UBU.
Toby Malone