‘Ubu’ in Performance

Abstract

During his lifetime Jarry witnessed only two performances of Ubu roi, on 9 and 10 December 1896. While he lay dying, Firmin Gémier was preparing a revival which eventually took place at the Théâtre Antoine in 1908. The performance was a disappointment as the actor manager chose to treat the play as a childish, circus-like fairytale. Ubu, for example, pretended that he was scooping up the neat droppings of the pantomime horses, and in the snow scene Ma Ubu lay down beside her mate for a nap. She went hee and he went haw(!). The performance ended with the whole cast going to sleep, symbol ‘of all that is bizarre and phantasmagorical in the play’.