Kate’s Score: 4 burning rainforests
Dario Fo, the master of satire and political farce, once said that all theatre was political and although Fo post-dates Alfred Jarry, it is a great position from which to start any discussion of Ubu Roi or in the case of Tooth and Sinew Theatre Company – U.B.U. The original Ubu Roi filched from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear but twisted the material with obscene language to ultimately present something deep and highly symbolic. It became a precursor to absurdist theatre.
Presented in the KXT’s Bordello Room’s “high risk work delivered in a low risk, low budget environment”, Richard Hilliar’s U.B.U delivers. It is perhaps even more wild and bizarre than the original, punching above its weight in its attack on rampant power and greed and the apathy of the masses who, mindful only of their personal survival, silently watch as the world hurtles towards damnation. A wild, roller-coaster of a comedy because laughter, after all, is the best medicine.
Sam Glissan’s Pa Ubu puts us forcibly in mind of Donald Trump in his infantile engagement with his world which is a domain of greedy self-gratification. He is a fat, ugly, vulgar, voracious, cowardly and in the second half, his cruelty acquires a truly evil status. He is matched step-by-step by his wife, Ma Ubu (Emily Elise) who Lady Macbeth-like,
desires power and wealth only to ultimately realise one cannot eat money or drink oil. Glissan and Elise both perform with effortless comic timing and control. With them are the rest of the ensemble. Tristan Black’s Fuller Bjullschitt is every right–wing politician/prime minister of a nightmare, glib and self-serving. Miss Information (Rachel Colquhoun-Fairweather) orchestrates fake news with finesse whilst Shane Russon’s Dr Murray Faseema is the scientist who will desperately bend the study to suit the funding and his own survival.
Make no mistake – the left is equally attacked. Smug in their self righteousness, Corduroy (Lib Campbell) and Wicker (Idam Sondhi, who also mangers very creditable puppetry skills with King Dimc’nt) pontificate but are ultimately ineffective. Petitions are ignored. Posturing is useless. Caught between the two worlds are Prince Bitchard (Gideon Payten-Griffiths) and Princess Munt (Nicole Wineberg). Bitchard undergoes an epiphany, but his solution of selflessness and self-restraint is received with short-sighted refusal by the populace (our most recent elections, anyone?); and it quickly becomes evident that we, the audience, are the Munts of the world – silent in our acquiescence as we observe atrocity, grateful for whatever small gifts are thrown at us.
Yes, it is didactic but the company makes no apologies – the situation is catastrophic. And just what do you intend to do about it? Put your name on another change.org petition? It is a provocative production; a portentous production and if you can leave without feeling even a little guilty, then you are a much better human than I.
Kate Stratford, Theatre Now
Photography: Ross Waldron
10 – 21 Sep 2019
Venue: KXT: Popupstairs Theate
Theatre Company: Adapted and Directed by Richard Hilliar
Duration: N/A
Ticket Prices:
Preview $20
Adult $30
Concession $35
plus booking fee
Tue – Sat 7pm / Sun 4pm
By Adapted and Directed by Richard Hilliar
What happens if we never stop eating? Where have all the animals gone? And just how hot is it going to get? Fear not, friends. UBU will tell you. Dragging themselves screeching into 2019 with their meaty fists, Ma and Pa Ubu will stop at nothing to reach the top. Power is what they want, and all the food, sex and money is just gravy.
The cream of Sydney’s comedy crop launch themselves headfirst into this new interpretation of the UBU mythos. Frantic, apocalyptic and unapologetically obscene, this is a theatre experience you’ll have to see to believe. Unless the seas consume us earlier than predicted.
Also, there will be puppets. Because everything’s better with puppets.
Directed by Richard Hilliar
Cast: Tristan Black, Lib Campbell, Rachael Colquhan-Fairweather, Emily Elise, Sam Glissan, Gideon Payton-Griffiths, Shane Russon, Idam Sondhi and Nicole Wineberg
Lighting Designer – Ryan McDonald Sound Designer – Tegan Nichols Costume Designer – Tanya Woodland Prop Designer – Ash Bell Producer Nicole Wineberg
Suitable for: Ages 4+ and their families
