Zelenak reviews a revival production of Jarry's play, one that takes considerable liberties with the playwright's text. The critic opines that by placing an emphasis on slapstick and scatological humor as well as adding modern pop culture references the Irondale production company captures the essence of Jarry's play while making it accessible to modern audiences.
Few dramatic works have attained the iconographic status of Alfred Jarry's Ubu roi. Its original two-performance production by Lugne-Poe in 1896 caused the greatest sensation in the French theater since Hugo's Hernani sixty years earlier. Jarry's play took only one word the infamous merdre to cause a near riot. Amidst the hysterical audience demonstrations, fist-fights and shower of missiles, the actors found themselves spectators to a theatrical event that dwarfed the one on stage. Although Ubu remains central to the avant-garde.....
