Producing Company: Cheek by Jowl with Barbican, London, Les Gémeaux/Sceaux/Scène Nationale et Comédie de Béthune, Centre Dramatique National Nord/Pas-de-Calais
Further Information
Performed in French, with English surtitles.
Age guideline: 16+
Production photography: Johan Persson
Ubu Roi
By Alfred Jarry
Directed by Declan Donnellan | Designed by Nick Ormerod
Following the incredible ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Tempest and Andromaque, Cheek by Jowl makes a welcome return to the Playhouse with a new production of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi, performed in French, with English surtitles.
Charting the exploits of the tyrannical King Ubu, the play is a startling challenge to the comfortable and conventional. Menacing, petulant and wonderfully anarchic, Ubu’s behaviour leads to his downfall. With Shakespearean undertones, Ubu Roi is both funny and grotesque and outraged audiences when it was first performed in 1896.
Cheek by Jowl has an international reputation for bringing “fresh life to the classics using intense, vivid performances like a laser of light to set the text ablaze” (Guardian).
Venue: Main Stage | Category: Drama | Running Time: : 1 hour 40 mins (no interval)