Ubu Roi

& Arts LiveUBU ROI Text: Alfred JarryDirected by Daniel Benoin With: André Marcon, Mélanie Page, Astrid Bas, Maxime Bouteraon, Paul Charieras, Emmanuel Depoix, Benjamin Migneco, Julien NacacheAnd Olivier SitrukDuration: 1h20 Alfred Jarry's play Ubu Roi returns to the stage of the Théâtre de Paris from 16 September.

Created in 1896 in the same venue, then called Théâtre-Nouveau, it is reborn today in a contemporary staging by Daniel Benoin. Ubu is a cowardly, greedy, brutal, grotesque man. Driven by Mother Ubu, he decides to seize absolute power. He does not conquer: he crushes.

He does not govern: he confiscates. He exercises his authority with the delicacy of a tank, in a violence that is both absurd and methodical.

Tyrannical, plundering, murderer of the nobility, magistrates and financiers, he establishes a reign founded on fear, arbitrariness and destruction.

He governs without vision, without strategy, without political intelligence, and quickly finds himself encircled by his own contradictions. His only way out then becomes a headlong flight: attacking the outside to mask the internal collapse.

He embarks on an absurd war against the “Czar” and Russia, transforming the madness of power into expansionist delirium. Controversial since its creation, Ubu roi continues to provoke laughter and reactions today.

The character reinvented by Daniel Benoin thus becomes the instinctive reflection of the aggressiveness of an entire society, and the history of this play finds a disturbing, cynical echo with our current world.

“A biting farce" Le Figaro "André Marcon creates a striking Ubu" La Terrasse "A dizzying dive into the mechanics of power" Nice Matin "A visionary and burning masterpiece" ICI (France Bleu) In co-production with Anthéa, Théâtre d’Antibes |Spectator service: 01 86 47 72 49Booking for people with reduced mobility at 01 48 74 72 52.