"Shitsky!" begins Alfred Jerry's Ubu Roi, a raucous, anarchic portrayal of the most disgraceful, disgusting and devastating aspects of royalty and human nature.
First performed on Dec. 11, 1896, Ubu Roi began as a 14-year-old's depiction of a terrible teacher. After revision and expansion, it became an avant-garde absurdist terror in Paris. The intellectual community, having never seen nor heard anything so monstrous, was up in arms after the first word was uttered. Pandemonium and a 15-minute riot ensued before the play was allowed to continue.
The drama department's production, directed by Betsy Tucker, certainly paid heed to the ridiculous nature of the play, with outrageous fight scenes, varying costumes and loud, obnoxious characters.
Ubu Roi takes place in Poland, which is to say nowhere, a fact that is much emphasized in both the show and the program. It is the tale of the despicable Papa Ubu and his wife, Mama Ubu, as they plot and execute the murders of Good King Wenceslas and his family with the twice traitorous Captain Burbage.
After a fight and an attempted escape by Queen Rosemonde and her 14-year-old Buggerlas, only the son is left alive. Papa Ubu assumes the throne, and more chaos and calamity follow, with the murders of all of the noblemen, the judges and the financiers. Only an invasion by Russia can put a stop to Papa Ubu's tyrannical antics.
Though at times the absurdity of the show can be slightly tiresome, it is by no means a cause of lack of energy from the cast. There is a consistent drive, derived from the script but generated by the actors as they demonstrate the lowest aspects of human nature in a way that puts the audience in hysterics.
Although there are a variety of interpretations that can be made, the author, played by Sam Rabinovitz, was so kind as to stand up in the beginning in backless trousers to inform us that the interpretation we were about to see was merely the intelligent mockery of an abysmal teacher by a brilliant student.
In addition to the masterful direction, the technical aspects of this production were seamlessly attended to with detail. With wheelbarrows full of fake food and treasure chests of gold, the props helped add details to the otherwise sparse setting. The black box theater had been chalked up to not only indicate individual countries and paths, but the scrawling of random phrases and pictures adds to the chaos of the already frenzied plot.
Appropriate attention must also be paid to the eclectic musical aspects of the play. An orchestral arrangement, which includes buckets, a colonial drum, cymbals, toolboxes, cooking pans and a piano, accompanies the action. Even the angel, a cameo-styled character, has a small plastic trumpet that she uses to play taps as she literally marks the fallen bodies.
The fight scenes are particularly well-choreographed, with weapons made of everything from light sabers to plastic knives to long white rubber objects that look like pool noodles. The murder of King Wenceslas was done in slow motion, and the particular attention paid to facial expressions by the actors was almost as amusing as the scene itself.
Many, many minor characters also helped to make up this engaging cast. While only a few characters maintain their original roles, the other actors change roles and invent new characters simply by changing accessories. They flow smoothly between noblemen, accountants and soldiers in the opposing army without the least bit of confusion for themselves or the audience.
These many aspects help to articulate the overall theme. Ubu Roi is a depiction of the darkest parts of human nature and its absurdity. The baseness and the amorality are evident, but in the end there is also hope and the triumph of the good over the disgustingly stupid.
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