Starting from Jarry’s tragic farce, King Ubu (1896), which marked the beginning of historical avantgarde, the director, András Urbán constructs a provocative and excessive piece that is at the same time politically subversive and impertinently amusing. Urbán translates Jarry’s vicious parody of Shakespeare’s political tragedies, primarily Macbeth, into an even more radical and horrifying narrative about the blindness of power. (...)
Perhaps the greatest achievement of this King Ubu is that it successfully merges boundless fun with a set of important questions concerning the nature of political power, the influence of media, provinciality, the relationship of cities and smaller settlements, and the abuse of power. This mixture represents an accurate translation of Jarry’s farce defined as a melting pot of tragic and comical, nihilism and anti-realism, which reveals the absurdity of power and the tragicomic situation of man. (Ana Tasić, Politika)

Urban’s performances usually spotlight the absurdity of our contemporary political life, afflicted by nationalism, misogyny and blatant corruption. Jarry’s Ubu Roi also satirizes in a pseudo-Shakespearean way authoritarian state leaders that are so present today, both in South East Europe and beyond. The play also has a rich layer of irony and self-parody,  the deconstruction of classical theatre structures, which is a thread that also consistently runs through Urban’s work. (Borisav Matić, SEEstage)

Played by
Papa Ubu - Nemanja Bakić
Mama Ubu, Crowds, Peasant, Rat 2 - Danica Grubački
Captain Bordure, Crowds, Phynanciers, Peasant, Translator - Nikola Knežević
Conspirator 2, King Wenceslas, Crowds, Nobles, Peasant, Emperor Alexei, A Bear - Srđan Aleksić
Conspirator 3, Queen Rosemonde, Crowds, Magistrates, Peasant, Rat 1, Pile palotin - Biljana Keskenović
Musician - Strahinja Rašić, harmonica

Dramaturge: Vedrana Božinović
Set design: András Urbán
Costume design: Biljana Grgur
Composer: Irena Popović Dragović
Stage speech consultant: Bogomir Đorđević
Stage manager, prompter: Ninoslav Vranić

Photos: Nađa Repman

Duration: 01:45

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