Promotional image of the cast rioting in their theatre seatsIt’s cit­i­zen ver­sus every­thing in this total­ly orig­i­nal, entire­ly reimag­ined adap­ta­tion of Alfred Jar­ry’s clas­sic avant-garde satire Ubu Rex. Grotesque, ridicu­lous and deeply pro­found, this irrev­er­ent adap­ta­tion of Ubu Rex draws from a huge range of source mate­r­i­al to ampli­fy the mes­sages from Jarry’s orig­i­nal nar­ra­tive. The live show is mul­ti­me­dia in every respect, with Ubu Sux also being live-streamed to devices all over the world includ­ing this year’s Mel­bourne Fringe, one of a huge num­ber of arts’ fes­ti­vals to adapt to 2020’s restric­tions on phys­i­cal gath­er­ings and embrace dig­i­tal deliv­ery.

Direc­tor Paula van Beek says that the Whitireia Stage & Screen stu­dents are lov­ing the chance to explore work­ing with tech­nolo­gies that look set to become com­mon­place in the future. “How we’re manip­u­lat­ed to hear, believe and pay atten­tion to peo­ple in posi­tions of pow­er is at the heart of Ubu Sux. The show asks some hard ques­tions about ‘the econ­o­my of influ­ence’ and the effect it is hav­ing on young peo­ple all over the world. This new adap­ta­tion aims to dis­solve some of the uncon­scious bias that’s tem­plat­ed into deci­sions about which sto­ries get told. When I ini­tial­ly took a trans­la­tion of Ubu Rex to the com­pa­ny, they artic­u­lat­ed some real­ly clear con­cerns about what it would mean to choose a play that gives a revolt­ing char­ac­ter like Pa Ubu so much lime­light. And that was a real­ly excit­ing moment. Even though Jarry’s Ubu plays are satir­i­cal, the stu­dents point­ed out that air­time is still air­time —  even if you are pok­ing fun.  We decid­ed to explore how Pa Ubu could be mut­ed, side-lined or ignored to allow the oth­er char­ac­ters in the play to have a chance to speak and tell their sto­ries. We want­ed lots of dif­fer­ent per­spec­tives rep­re­sent­ed.”

The cast and crew are excit­ed to explore dif­fer­ent points of view – not only of the char­ac­ters but also of how audi­ences can see the work, whether that’s in the the­atre, or through screen. van Beek says “We can’t wait to bring these new char­ac­ters, new per­spec­tives and brand-new orig­i­nal songs to life for oth­er peo­ple. They could be in the room with us, at home watch­ing online, or in the cin­e­ma at Te Aua­ha see­ing the show beam in from next door to the big screen… we’ll know they’re there and feel the con­nec­tion. I won­der how dif­fer­ent their expe­ri­ences will be?”

  • Ubu sux on at Te Aua­ha, 17–19 Novem­ber 2020