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ETHER 08 Festival
Pere Ubu and the Quay Brothers
present
the WORLD PREMIERE
of
Bring Me The Head Of Ubu Roi
Queen Elizabeth Hall
24- 25 April 2008
 ary Couzens
A review by Mary Couzens for EXTRA! EXTRA!
Like Forced Entertainment’s Bloody Mess, last year’s absurdist theatre offering in Jarvis Cocker’s Meltdown, Bring Me the Head… attempts to unsettle as much as it does to break the rules. In the case of the former production, however, what seemed like mindless dribble at the time inspired much afterthought. Unfortunately, this production of Bring Me…fails to unsettle or inspire as much as it might have, particularly considering its illustrious participants.
French writer Alfred Jarry’s ground-breaking, temper-rousing 1896 play, Bring Me the Head of Ubu Roi has often been regarded as a instigator of the Absurdist, Dada and Surrealist art movements as well as a precursor of surrealist theatre of the 20’s and 30’s. Its jarring blend of unfinished literary business, coarse language and irreverent jibs at the establishment so angered the more conservative amongst its opening night audience that, according to legend, a fist fight of riotous proportions ensued making its first night, its last.
In the absence of programmes or handouts of any kind, (another first), it was off to the internet in search of information on the ‘science’ that Jarry invented, pataphysics, which is, apparently demonstrated by the opening line of the play, “Merdre!” which has been translated into English as “Shitteth!”, “Shittr!”,”Shikt”! and any number of other ‘words’, though the play isn’t completely made up of its author’s unique, initially indecipherable jargon. In Jarry’s own words, pataphysics stands for “the laws which govern exceptions and will explain the universe supplementary to this one.” To say that in its day, the play was an act of political anarchy in the extreme seems like an understatement.
The original production of Jarry’s singularly defiant play was also known for featuring the use of various types of performance media. In keeping with that contemporary ethos, Ether Festival 08’s theatre piece offers an oft intentionally incompatible mix of music by Peru Ubu, Graham Dowdall’s minimalist soundscapes, animation by the Quay Brothers and superb drumming by Gagarin, former drummer for, among other rock legends, Nico and John Cale.
The play’s loose storyline centres on the repulsive ‘King’ Pere Ubu and his long-suffering wife Mere Ubu, and much of its dialogue finds them complaining about each other and the state of things in general. This chaotic staging finds its two main players, Thomas and Morris reading their scripts from two separate, largely stationary points, though it’s marginal, walk-on characters tend to speak their ‘lines’ in a more traditional manner, with accompanying actions and thrashing around which have nothing to do with anything remotely traditional. One Iggy Pop looking actor dashes around in a flowered shift dress, as though the ants in his pants are threatening to overtake him.
This play inspired seminal expressionist, post-punk band Peru Ubu’s name. The band’s portly front man, David Thomas, an ardent fan of Alfred Jarry’s absurdist play, was so taken by its main patriarchal, farting and belching nightmare of a character, ‘Peru’ Ubu, that he borrowed his name for his group. Which, is entirely appropriate, as, Thomas, along with his ever shifting and re-arranging band members, has long been perfecting what he refers to as the “hyper-naturalistic” approach. His guttural talk singing is in fine fettle here for his role of Peru Ubu, and he’s beginning to look as though he could play another formidable heavyweight of the avant-garde, that creative maverick of a bygone era, Orson Wells, aka Citizen Kane. I don’t mean that as an insult, on the contrary, for Thomas’ glib, seemingly spontaneous ad-libbing in this helter-skelter production is its one of its main saving graces along with its music and sound, much of which consists of songs savoured by Peru Ubu fans the world over. By comparison, the production’s ten original songs seem forgettable, though the acoustics in Queen Elizabeth Hall weren’t the greatest for the performance we attended, which didn’t help. This rough around the ears aspect must have surely, been intentional, as it seems in keeping with the rest of this production’s low flying values. David Thomas is actually much funnier in the role of Mere Ubu than Sarah-Jane Morris, whose annoying screeching and repetitive feigned forgetfulness sometimes caused me to finger the play button on the MP3 player in my pocket in search of escape.
The Quay Brothers oddly monotone, red-stroked stop action animation is one of the focal points of this production, though it seems decidedly unanimated. But perhaps that is the point, as much of it has obviously been designed to accompany this piece, which, in itself tries a bit too hard to be something it isn’t for the most part, (though it certainly was in its time)– brash (by today’s standards) shocking (by 1896 ones) and free-wheeling (now) or rule-breaking (then). Shocking, this production isn’t, nor is it particularly unusual, as its ‘unusualness’ generally tends towards the all too predictable.
That said, however, there are moments of elevation on both stage and background screen, when the animation fuses with the action in a decidedly absurdist way, prompting gentle ripples of laughter amongst its audience. And it also has to be said that the ending, in which the action taken may seem blatantly obvious, still manages to come across as funny in a way that is simultaneously, disconcerting and classic.
Bring Me The Head Of Ubu Roi contains some explicit material
and therefore admission is strictly 18 years and over.
TICKET OFFICE: 0871 663 2500
www.southbankcentre.co.uk
Thursday & Friday
Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7.30pm,
Tickets £22.50 £20
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