Podcast #178
Ubu For President is about a big slobbering, farting war general who becomes the leader of the make-believe land called Fugall who goes on to rape, pillage and plunder the men women and children of the land
So why and the hell would anyone want to watch this show?
Because it is going to be FUN, proclaims the Patrick Dooley, Director of the show and Artistic Director of Shotgun Players Theatre Company.
The play, UBU FOR PRESIDENT, is loosely based on the play UBU ROI, by Alfred Jarry. And when I say loosely based, I am talking loose like a Hilton Heiress.
Ubu Roi, the original play by Alfred Jarry, was ground breaking for many reasons. One of those reasons was because when it premiered in 1896, the first word from the mouths of actors was marde.
Now for those of you who dont know any French, the American equivalent would be shit. During the 1800s and early 1900s, it was not very polite to be so blunt in the theatre. People were so in an uproar when they heard Marde, a riot broke out.
Thats right, the aristocratic crowd, that still unfortunately defines theatre, went into an uproar. So Mr. Philip and his little lap dog, stood up and slapped, Mrs. Gooder with his white glove. And so spread the violence thru-out the theatre.
The word shit will not startle any American audience today, but this is an indication of how the play UBU FOR PRESIDENT will be.
Not your typical politically correct play, and as far as I am concerned, we need more - less politically correct plays in our repertoire.
Why did Patrick Dooley and the Shotgun Theatre Players decide to do a play based on a shoe string connection to the original play (Ubu Roi)?
Politics baby, Politics
The Historic 2008 presidential election is upon us, and the Shotgun Players want to have some fun. What they really want to do is turn politics upside down. And how are they going to achieve that?
As described by director and Artistic director, Patrick Dooley, it is a freak fest, carnival, fart fest hyped up for your enjoyment. It turns out that the play Ubu for President has men dressed as women, women dressed as men, women dressed as animals. If that is not crazy, I dont know what is? But they ado all this to help lighten the mood for the tough economic climate that Americans now face.
And we also face an election that can categorically move us forward in our race relations with ourselves. But in order to do that, we must be willing to look at some ugly aspects about ourselves.
I dont know about you, but looking at ugly aspects about myself can be a painful proposition. It is not something that people like doing. Which is why the Shotgun players are putting a play onstage that will allow you to see the ugly side of America, without you having to do the painful introspection thing. That will definitely take some pressure off of you while still allowing you to examine the changes that need to happen in our world.
If you like the absurdist movement, then you are about to appreciate UBU FOR PRESIDENT, because this play is loosely derived from what some same to be the grandfather of that movement, Alfred Jarry
I know the creators of Dumb and Dumber, and Porkies give credit to Jarry as influencing their work.
Of course many of us know Beckett as the Father of the absurdist movement, but Jarry had his place also. But when you think of the characters that Alfred Jarry wrote, you can see that modern day films that many would consider marde, were in-fact possible because of the risks that Alfred Jarry took. Jarry writes low ball characters, who tend to be crude, self-serving, sloppy, rude people who resort to lowball tactics to get what they want.
This is certainly true of some of the great comedies of our time. (Now I know there will be a few of you out there who refuse to see Dumb and Dumber as a great comedy, and that is your choice, but there were elements of brilliance in that movie).
There is nothing sophisticated about the characters that Jarry wrote. They were simpletons that everybody could identify with on some level. The thing is, nobody ever saw themselves as that character, we only knew of people like that.
Ubu Roi was a king who went around murdering, pillaging, and raping the population. Not many people see themselves as that type of person. But we can identify with elements of what makes a person a bad person.
Ubu For President, written by Shotgun Players, takes Ubu Roi, written by Alfred Jarry, and transports it into a modern day context, complete with whole lot of mayhem, that even you the audience will want to take part of
Even if you feel you are above the antics of the less than everyday man. Go out and have some fun!
Ubu for President is set in a country called Fugall. If you can have fun with that, then you are absolutely the type of person who should not go see this production. The minute I heard Patrick Dooley (director) say that word, I immediately had to stop the interview just so I could have fun with that word. If you cant see the fun in that word, but want a little clue, I would advise you to listen to this interview. You might just laugh!
Ubu for President, in which Ubu is that same, fat, disgusting, self serving, murderous person as in the original play, takes you on a journey on what might happen with this type of character in a modern democratic election.
So in this production there will be debates in front of the audience. You will have the presidential candidates meeting the common man and kissing babies. There will be people at tea parties and fundraisers.
In other words, the Shotgun Players want this to look like a real life presidential race, with Ubu at its helm.
And even more interesting is what happens at a debate when there is food around. Shotgun players is going to give the audience liberty to express themselves with food. And by that I mean that if the audience is not satisfied with a particular candidate, they can throw food.
Now they are not going to have potatoes, or cantaloupe, or something that can give the actors a concussion. But there will be items like cabbage, carrots, bread and things of the sort.
Shotgun Players wants strong audience participation in this play. You are encouraged to speak out, you are encouraged to voice your opinion, and you are encouraged to barrage the actors with food.
One word of caution though. They may do to you what you do to them!
What do you think the most difficult aspect of putting this show together was?
I asked Patrick and he gives an honest answer
You have a responsibility audience. And it is a responsibility that I am giving to you.
You see, the most difficult thing about directing the show, for Patrick, was coming up with crazy things to do on stage. The spirit of the play was to find the most outrageous way to tell a story. Patricks job was to find things that seemed outrageous, but felt familiar.
So your responsibility, when you go see this production is to notice if the production falls short because of lack of structure. Notice if the production falls short because of the use of gags, and craziness just because.
OR
Maybe the play works for those very same reasons.
Your job, cool as hell audience, is to decide if the play works, and how.
SHOW NOTES
Shotgun Players Theatre: The Website
Playing August 2 - September 14, 2008
Ubu For President: Buy Tickets
Listen Now
alfred jarry patrick dooley Shotgun Players ubu for president ubu roi
WashingtonDC
(494 unread)
ShowBizRadio.net Reviews (463 unread)
Shakespeare Theatre Company: Digital Shakespeare (31 unread)
ATW - Downstage Center (220 unread)
Broadway Bullet - Mp3 Version
(158 unread)
nytheatrecast (267 unread)
Talk Theatre in Chicago (135 unread)
The Cool As Hell Theatre Podcast (59 unread)
KCRW's Theatre Talk (53 unread)
theatreVOICE (124 unread)
Your Neighborhood Stage Podcast (136 unread)
MusicalWorld Podcast (32 unread)
MusicalTalk (100 unread)
G.L.Horton's Stage Page (70 unread)
Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast (138 unread)
WFIU: Opera and Theatre Reviews (78 unread)
American Shakespeare Center Podcast Central (97 unread)
3:03
