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A world of grotesque on a table!
This award-wining adaptation of King Ubu has garnered much praise – the objects’ raw form and the performance’s frenetic pace are perfectly suited for Jarry’s cruel farce. Since its creation, Ubu has been performed over 850 times in Québec, Mexico, Brazil and Europe!
Two armies of French baguettes face each other in a stand-off as tomato bombs explode, an egg beater hovers over fleeing troops and molasses-blood splatters on fork-soldiers as they charge Père Ubu. Anything goes as Poland’s fate is sealed on a tabletop! Multiple film references spice things up as two performers hammer-out a small-scale fresco of grandiose buffoonery.
Ubu is undeniably comfortable surrounded by kitchen utensils that double as gorging tools and weapons to annihilate the “sagouins”. The banality of the objects dramatically underscores the grotesque nature of the characters: Captain Bordure, embodied by a standard hammer, is forever stuck in his rigid stance, forced to repeat the same ridiculous expressions over and over. The Object’s expressive limits force the creators to focus on the dramatic action rather than on the psychological development of the characters. The actor-puppeteers (in full view) appeal to the audience’s intelligence and imagination by conveying a second degree to the storyline.
Awards
– OFQJ-RIDEAU Award, creation category (2003)
– Critic’s Awards at the Festivalul International de Teatru Atelier in Baia Mare, Romania (2007)
– Best Show Award at the International Puppet Theatre Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2010)
– Special mention from the jury for the innovative object manipulation at the International Puppel Festival “Visiting Arlekin” in Omsk, Russia (2013)
Press reviews
“Humorous, inventive and wilfully juvenile, (…) Ubu on the Table tickles the funny bone and the imagination.”
(Marie Labrecque, Voir)
“An iconoclastic version of an already irreverent and unbridled work, the performance is great fun and yet quite learned: theater specialists and connoisseurs will delight in the many subtle references, twists and delicious technical feats.”
(Denise Pelletier, Le Quotidien)
“Their Object Theater is striking for its childish abandon, its subversive energy and its confidence in the audience’s ability to grasp the symbolism at play.”
(Jean St-Hilaire, Le Soleil)
“There’s a childlike approach in their object hijacking, in their hilarious improvisation, how they get caught up in the game and end up thumbing their noses at any basic sense of likelihood.” (G.G., L’Ardennais)
“Our inner child marvels at what these two creators’ galloping imaginations manage to pull together with nothing more than a table, a bottle, a min-mop, a hammer, spoons, French baguettes and an army of forks, among other small-scale surprises. The adult in us appreciates the cocky, tongue-in-cheek attitude and the deeper understanding of the text, an adaptation of Alfred Jarry’s King Ubu.”
(Ève Dumas, La Presse)
Selected performance history
Over 850 performances !
1998
Creation at La Brasserie Laurier (Montréal)
2000
Café-Théâtre l’Aparté (Montréal)
Semaine mondiale de la marionnette (Jonquière)
2001
Festival Public-Off d’Avignon (France)
2002
Semaine mondiale de la marionnette (Jonquière)
Festival international d’été de Québec
Festival de théâtre de rue (Shawinigan)
Festival Marionnettissimo (France)
2003
Creation of Ubu sobre la mesa at the Café-Théâtre L’Aparté (Montréal)
Creation of Ubu sourd la table at Café-Théâtre L’Aparté (Montréal)
Fira de teatre de Tarrega (Espagne)
Festival internacional Titerias (Mexique)
Festival des arts forains de Namur (Belgique)
Festival mondial des théâtres de marionnettes de Charleville-Mézières (Off-Festival) (France)
2004
Maison Théâtre (Montréal)
Performed in France, Mexico and Québec
2005
Performed in France, Belgium, Ontario and Québec
2006
Festival Intercâmbio de Linguagens (Brazil)
Performed in France, Spain, Belgium and Québec
2007
Festival International de teatru Atelier (Baia Mare, Romania)
Performed in France and Québec
2008-2009
Performed in France, Spain, New Brunswick and Québec
2010
International Puppet Theatre Festival (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
Festival Marionnettissimo (France)
Performed in Brazil, Ontario and Québec
2011
Archéoforum de Liège (Belgium)
Théâtre Français de Toronto (Canada)
2012
Creation of Ubu on the Table, Izmir Kukla Günleri International Puppet Days (Turkey)
Animated Object Festival, Calgary (Canada)
2013
International Puppet Festival “Visiting Arlekin”, Omsk (Russia)
2014
Mukamas International Puppet Theatre Festival, Tampere (Finland)
Théâtre Aux Écuries, Montréal (Canada)
2015
Festival internacional de teatro de La Havana (Cuba)
Festín de los Muñecos des Guadalajara (Mexico)
La Capilla, Mexico (Mexico)
Théâtre Aux Écuries (Montréal, Québec)
Festival Petites Formes Mouvantes et Émouvantes, Meung-sur-Loire (France)
École nationale de l’aviation civile, Toulouse (France)
Centre culturel de Ramonville, Saint-Agnès (France)
Festival Marionnettissimo, Tournefeuille (France)
2016
Edinburgh Festival Fringe (UK)
Festival St-Ambroise Fringe de Montréal (Canada)
Théâtre Aux Écuries, Montréal (Canada)
2017
Belltable, Lime Three Theatre, Limerick (Ireland)
Nenagh Arts center, Nenagh (Ireland)
Riverbank Arts Center, Newbridge (Ireland)
Fringe Festival Recklinghausen (Germany)
Salisbury International Arts Festival (UK)
3rd International Puppet Underground Festival, Regina (Canada)
Théâtre Aux Écuries (Montréal, Canada)
2018
FigurenTheaterWoche, Gelsenkirchen (Germany)
Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich (Germany)
Würzburg, Theater HOBBIT (Germany)
Théâtre Cercle Molière, Winnipeg, Manitoba
