Alfred Jarry is a prominent French playwright, considered to be the predecessor of absurd theatre. For revolt against contemporary conventions, the premiere of Ubu The King provoked a scandal in 1896, but the play has remained on the repertory until today. Especially famous were the productions of the Osvobozené divadlo a Divadlo Na zábradlí directed by Jan Grossman.
Jarry's play is like a torrent of accumulated energy that brilliantly spews streams of imagination, humour, persiflage, lyrics or drastic grotesque. Nonsense is made into sense, comedy into tragedy. Ubu The King is the opposite of aristocratic nobility. It is the embodiment of stupidity, lust, greed and vulgarity. Drunk with power, it proves that lawlessness is no worse than lawfulness. The narrow-mindedness of those around him legalizes his power. A dramatic hyperbole about the destructive power of stupidity creates space for lively, playful and offensive theatre.
Premiere on 9 February 2019 at the Grand Theatre.
