THÉÂTRE DE LA PIRE ESPÈCE (CANADA) PRESENTS

ADAPTATION FROM ALFRED JARRY’S UBU ROI IN

OBJECT THEATRE

PRESS KIT

www.pire-espece.com

UBU ON THE TABLEADAPTATION OF ALFRED JARRY’S UBU ROI IN OBJECT THEATRE

THE WORLD’S GROTESQUENESS ON A TABLE! Two armies of French baguettes face each other in a stand-off as tomato bombs explode, an egg beater hovers over fleeing troops and molasses-blood splatters on fork-soldiers as they charge Père Ubu. Anything goes as Poland’s fate is sealed on a tabletop! Multiple film references spice things up as two performers hammer-out A SMALL-SCALE FRESCO OF GRANDIOSE BUFFOONERY.

UBU IN OBJECT THEATREUbu is undeniably comfortable surrounded by kitchen utensils that double as gorging tools and weapons to annihilate the “sagouins”. The banality of the objects dramatically underscores the grotesque nature of the characters: Captain Bordure, embodied by a standard hammer, is forever stuck in his rigid stance, forced to repeat the same ridiculous expressions over and over. The Object’s expressive limits force the creators to focus on the dramatic action rather than on the psychological development of the characters. The ACTOR-PUPPETEERS (in full view) appeal to the audience’s intelligence and imagination by conveying a second degree to the storyline.

OVER 800 PERFORMANCESThis adaptation of UBU ROI has garnered much praise – the objects’ raw form and the performance’s frenetic pace are perfectly suited for Jarry’s cruel farce. Since its creation, the show has been PERFORMED OVER 800 TIMES IN 13 COUNTRIES (Canada, France, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Belgium, Turkey, Cuba, Finland and now the UK)!

CREATIVE TEAM BASED ON ALFRED JARRY’S UBU ROIADAPTATION AND STAGE DIRECTION OLIVIER DUCAS AND FRANCIS MONTY PERFORMANCE ÉTIENNE BLANCHETTE/OR OLIVIER DUCAS AND MATHIEU GOSSELIN/OR FRANCIS MONTY LIGHT DESIGN JONAS BOUCHARD

ENGLISH TRANSLATION (PLAY) BOBBY THEODOREENGLISH TRANSLATION (PRESS KIT) DENISE BABIN

INSPIRED BY THE WORKS OF ALFRED JARRY AND STARRING

THE BOTTLE PÈRE UBU + THE MINI-MOP MÈRE UBU + THE HAMMER

CAPTAIN BORDURE + THE BIG TEAPOT KING WENCESLAS + THE

LITTLE TEAPOT BOGGERLAS + THE BILBOQUET (CUP-AND-BALL GAME) PALOTIN GIRON + THE PEOPLE THE PEOPLE + THE SPOONS THE NOBLES + THE

PEASANTS THE PEASANTS + THE UTENSILS THE WHOLE POLISH ARMY + OLIVIER’S HAND MÈRE UBU’S GUARDS + THE BEAR THE PULLEY THE CARRIAGE OF COMMERCE + THE RULER THE DEBRAINING MACHINE + THE LITTLE HAMMER BORDURE JR. AS WELL

AS THE TOMATOES, THE FRENCH BAGUETTES AND MANY OTHERS…

PRESS REVIEWS«Their Object Theater is striking for its childish abandon, its SUBVERSIVE ENERGY and its confidence in the audience’s ability to grasp the symbolism at play.» Jean St-Hilaire, Le Soleil

«Our inner child marvels at what these two creators’ GALLOPING IMAGINATIONS manage to pull together with nothing more than a table, a bottle, a min-mop, a hammer, spoons, French baguettes and an army of forks, among other small-scale surprises. The adult in us appreciates the cocky, tongue-in-cheek attitude and the deeper understanding of the text, an adaptation of Alfred Jarry’s King Ubu.»Ève Dumas, La Presse

«There’s a childlike approach in their OBJECT HIJACKING, in their HILARIOUS IMPROVISATION, how they get caught up in the game and end up thumbing their noses at any basic sense of likelihood.»G.G., L’Ardennais

«An ICONOCLASTIC VERSION OF AN ALREADY IRREVERENT AND UNBRIDLED WORK, the performance is great fun and yet quite learned: theater specialists and connoisseurs will delight in the many subtle references, twists and delicious technical feats.» Denise Pelletier, Le Quotidien

«Humorous, inventive and wilfully juvenile, (…) Ubu on the Table TICKLES THE FUNNY BONE AND THE IMAGINATION.» Marie Labrecque, Voir

AWARDS

QUÉBEC

OFQJ-RIDEAU Award creation category

ROMANIA

Critic’s Awards Festivalul International

de Teatru Atelier, Baia Mare

BULGARIA

Best Show Award International Puppet

Theatre Festival, Plovdiv

RUSSIA

Jury’s AwardInternational Puppet

Festival “Visiting Arlekin”, Omsk

UBU ON THE TABLE’S PERFORMANCE HISTORY (SUMMARY)

1998 Creation at La Brasserie Laurier (Montréal)2000 Café-Théâtre l’Aparté (Montréal) Semaine mondiale de la marionnette (Jonquière)2001 Festival Public-Off d’Avignon (France) 2002 Semaine mondiale de la marionnette (Jonquière) Festival international d’été de Québec Festival de théâtre de rue (Shawinigan) Festival Marionnettissimo (France) Performances in Québec and in France2003 Creation of UBU SOBRE LA MESA and UBU SOURD LA TABLE Fira de teatre de Tarrega (Espagne) Festival internacional Titerias (Mexique) Festival des arts forains de Namur (Belgique) Festival mondial des théâtres de marionnettes de Charleville-Mézières (France) Performances in France, Ontario and Québec2004 Maison Théâtre (Montréal) Performed in France, Mexico and Québec2005 Performed in France, Belgium, Ontario and Québec2006 Festival Intercâmbio de Linguagens (Brazil) Performed in France, Spain, Belgium and Québec2007 Festival International de teatru Atelier (Baia Mare, Romania) Performed in France and Québec2008 Performed in France, Spain and Québec2009 Performed in France, New Brunswick and Québec 2010 International Puppet Theatre Festival (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) Festival Marionnettissimo (France) Festival Internacional de Teatro de Objetos (Brasilia, Brazil) Performed in Brazil, Ontario and Québec2011 Archéoforum de Liège (Belgium) Théâtre Français de Toronto (Canada)2012 Creation of UBU ON THE TABLE at Festival de Casteliers (Montréal) Izmir Kukla Günleri International Puppet Days (Turkey) OFF-CINARS (Montréal)2013 The International Festival of Animated Object (Calgary, Canada) Visiting Arlekin, International Puppet Festival (Omsk, Russia)2014 Mukamas International Puppet Festival (Tampere, Finland)2015 El Festín de los Muñecos (Guadalajara, Mexico) Festival Internacional de Teatro de La Habana (Cuba)2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe at Summerhall (Edinburgh, UK)

THE STARS OF THE SHOW

PÈRE UBU

BORDURE

BOUGRELAS

MÈRE UBUTHE ANCESTOR

THE WAR

THE END