Gabrielle Adamo will Perform in Mainstage Theater Production 'Ubu Roi'

2018 Feb 19

Gabrielle Adamo is one of 12 students who will perform this spring in Muhlenberg College's Mainstage theater production "Ubu Roi."

Directed by Francine Roussel, Muhlenberg professor of theatre and dance, the play is a politically resonant production of a century-old absurdist French play that she says shows "not a single wrinkle."

"'Ubu' is about the rise and fall of ambition and the abuse of political power," Roussel says. "It's violent, it has a great sense of humor - and it is, unfortunately, totally real."

"Ubu Roi" has a long and controversial history; in fact, a riot broke out as the curtain fell on opening night in Paris in 1896. Jarry's bizarre, subversive little play was shouted down as an ugly vulgarity and outlawed from the French stage. Since the dust has settled, though, theater historians have come to view the play as an essential work of the avant-garde theater-a precursor to Dada, Surrealism, and the Theater of the Absurd.

"Ubu Roi" parodies Shakespeare's "Macbeth," with elements of "Hamlet" and "King Lear" tossed in for good measure. Originally conceived to mock Jarry's terrible physics teacher, the character of Ubu eventually grew into a rotund, capricious tyrant who leads a revolution, kills the King of Poland, and gets attacked by a bear-all in the course of a scandalous hour and a half.

"So many big, ridiculous things happen - you can't even imagine," says senior David Raccio, who plays Papa Ubu, the titular despot. "There are huge battles, horses to mount, crazy props that make no sense, and a bunch of surprises."

Read more about the performance.

"Ubu Roi" plays Feb. 21-25 in the Studio Theatre in Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 West Chew St., Allentown. For more information, including showtimes and tickets please click here. The production is intended for mature audiences.