One Act Play Festival

UBU ROI LAUNCHES 2007-2008 UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA DRAMA DEPARTMENT SEASON ON SEPTEMBER 27

1896 Alfred Jarry Play Is Silly And Savage Tale of Power Gone Mad

See UBU ROI Design Storm Video!

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – September 18, 2006 – The University Of Virginia Department Of Drama’s 2007-2008 season will start with one of the theater world’s most unforgettable characters when Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi takes the Helms Theatre stage.

Ubu Roi, directed by Betsy Tucker, opens on September 27 and will play through the 29th, then again from October 2-6.  All performances begin at 8p.m.  Single ticket sales are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and $8 for students and can be ordered by calling the Drama Box Office at 434-924-3376 or by visiting the Culbreth Theatre Monday through Friday between the hours of 1pm and 6pm.

Full-time U.VA. students can use their Arts Dollars as a form of payment to purchase both individual show and season tickets.  All you need to do is call 434-924-3376 or visit Culbreth Theatre between the hours of 1pm and 6pm Monday through Friday.  Give your student ID number to charge your Arts Dollars Account.

Causing a near-riot on its opening night in 1896, Ubu Roi is the tale of the ultimate man who shouldn’t be king.   Ubu is as ridiculous as he is brutal, a scatological scene stealer whose unchecked ambition is as blood-starved as it is misguided.  And, according to the play’s director Betsy Tucker, the story of his brief rise and rapid fall is full of hearty laughs and lasting lessons.

“Ubu is a monster,” director Tucker said.  “And there are lots of those running around these days.  We should be able to see him and laugh at him but acknowledge that he is a living cartoon among us.”

Ubu audiences should be expecting the unexpected.  “The play is very funny.  It’s wild and crazy, and it’s very audience engaging.”  One of the main reasons for this, Tucker said, is the people who will bring the story to life.  “This is an extremely imaginative, exuberant and creative cast, so they have created much of the show themselves.  It’s a very playful production.  It appeals to the child in them enormously, and I think it appeals to the same in the audience.”

The playful creativity extends to every aspect of the show.  The cast makes all its own sound effects, employing pots and pans, whistles and drums.  Even the audience is asked to pitch in, as they will be asked to manipulate scenery and add its noisemaking talents to the show’s sonic storm.

In fact, Ubu Roi’s entire design was the result of a storm.  The “design storm” featured an intense and condensed four-day creative process that resulted in all the sets, costumes and music that audiences will see on stage. 

“We worked on the show for ten days then did a run-through of it with the designer,” Tucker said.  “The next night we got together for four hours to talk about the show.  Then over the next two days we built the whole thing – a process that usually takes six weeks.  The ‘storm’ was an experiment to see if it could be done and to determine whether it is a workable model for future productions.  It went very well, and we had a good time.    They rose to the wackiness of the production.”

The 2007-2008 season will continue with Hedda Gabler, which comes to the Helms October 25-27, 30, 31 and November 1-3.

The season will also include Shakespeare’s beloved classic comedy Twelfth Night (Culbreth Theatre, November 29, 30; December 1, 5-8); the acclaimed musical revue Songs for a New World (Culbreth, February 14-16 & 20-23, 2008); U.Va. Drama Associate Professor Doug Grissom’s drama So Careless (Helms, March 20-22 & 25-29, 2008) and the David Mamet-adapted Harley Granville-Barker play The Voysey Inheritance (April 17-19 & 23-26, 2008).

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