Daddy Ubu
ESAÚ MORA AFTER ALFRED JARRY
BY
PRESENTED BY
BY
Note from Youth Company Programme Director
Keagan Carr Fransch
Note from Adaptor and Director
Esaú Mora
This year’s Youth Company programme has been curated with the intention of inviting audiences to consider the meaning of inheritance, and to give the ATC Youth Company members the agency to assert an incontrovertible truth: that as the people who will inherit the Earth, young artists are best-placed to interrogate exactly what that means, and question what we’re forcing them to live with; what sort of planet? What sort of political and social behaviour? What sort of art?
Esaú Mora’s brilliant adaptation of Ubu Roi (Alfred Jarry, 1896) is a wonderful way to begin our time together – working with something rowdy and bold and naughty; a wonderful tonic (yet by no means, a cure) for the myriad sad circumstances that this generation of young people have already had to face over the last three years, and are set to face in the future.
Daddy Ubu is playful and irreverent and also happens to be perennially relevant to the politics – or at the very least, the political sensibilities – of the powers that be.
Through this work, we look to the past in order to see into the future and boldly ask of our artistic inheritance: what relevance do classic texts have now, and should they be the endless, rolling inheritance they appear to be? Regardless of your answer, I recommend Daddy Ubu be served as a naughty digestif to your viewing of Auckland Theatre Company’s King Lear, (or a cheeky aperitif if you haven’t seen it yet –hurry, ends this week!)
Many of you are asking “is a century old play worth producing?” Yes! – but only if it serves my better interests.
As a 19 year old drama student, I stumbled upon a well-worn copy of Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry. Within hours, Jarry kicked in the holy gates of my theatre education and laid a fat colourful turd. Its fury, its irreverence, its camp appropriation of Shakespearean stereotypes both enraptured and kicked a dent into my artistic aesthetics. A decade later, as the world careened into chaos, I sat in mandatory isolation and revisited that same book. This politically charged farce helped me cope with the absurdity of our time.
When given the opportunity to direct for the ATC Youth Company, an adaptation of Ubu Roi was a no-brainer. I wanted to create something that was equally delightful and confronting. Thus, Daddy Ubu is a joyful, nihilistic, and filthy little spectacle. It selfishly leans into depravity, it rejoices in the abuse of power, and it is virtueless. Where most theatre is a warm cup of tea, this is a shot of tequila!
Daddy Ubu is 75 minutes long without an interval. Contains strong language, sacrilegious content, sexual themes, violence, implied drug use. Daddy Ubu is adapted from Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry, first performed on 10 December, 1896 at Nouveau-Théâtre in Paris. At the end of the performance a riot broke out.
This is the first ATC Youth Company production of 2023, performed at ATC’s Studios from 7–9 July.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Daddy Ubu and Mommy Ubu have a pretty decent life, with Daddy Ubu serving as the Captain of Dragoons, and a trusted officer to the current monarch of Poland, King Wenceslas. But when Mommy Ubu grows tired of her lower high class privileges, and Daddy Ubu yearns for more riches, she convinces Daddy Ubu to overthrow the royal family of Poland. With the help of their motley fellows they incite a holy civil-war, fighting tooth and nail to keep the crown.
CREATIVES
Adaptor and Director Esaú Mora
Production Design Siobhan (Von) Ridgley
Sound Design and Composer
Hannah Lynch
Movement Direction Rose Philpott
Intimacy Coordinator Todd Emerson
Lighting Design and Technical Operator Luuk Heijnen
(Youth Company, 2023)
THANKS TO
Jordan Windsor, Sean Wallace, Andrew Allemora
We acknowledge the members of the ATC Youth Company
Keltie-Kewan Young, Kais Azimullah, Sahil Goyal, and Te Ohorere Williams, who are not in Daddy Ubu due to illness or their participation in King Lear at the ASB Waterfront Theatre.
YOUTH COMPANY CAST
Chloe Bettina Queen Rosemonde, Dancing Rat, Dolphin, Polish Soldier, Public, Noble 4, Shadow
Zoe Courtney Giron, Peasant 3, Noble
Brandon Cudby Daddy Ubu
Chinmaya Dixit King Wenceslas, Noble 5, Peasant, Lonely Guard, Polish Soldier, Shadow, Seaman
Erin McCarthy Ballsy, Atttendant, Captain, Cavalry, Peasant, Russian soldier, Shadow
Hazel Oh Mommy Ubu
Shanna Paese Cotice, Messenger, Magistrate, Public
Megan Pochin Pile, Noble 2, Magistrate
Nikolai Puharich Captain Bordure, Dolphin, Noble 2
Kalia Regan Bugger, Seaman
Luka Wolgram
Cavalry, Dolphin, Financier, Peasant, Polish Soldier, Royal Soldier
Zane Samuel Wood Laidsly, Czar Alexis, Shadow, Noble 1, Peasant, Bear, Seaman
Daddy Ubu by Alfred JarryABOUT ATC YOUTH COMPANY
In its second year, ATC Youth Company is an open access programme that offers young people aged 18 to 25, who are passionate about theatre, the opportunity to spend a year immersed in learning and development. Drawn from across Tāmaki Makaurau, Company members develop, create and grow at the heart of Auckland Theatre Company.
The generosity of the Supporters Group, Under the leadership of Peter Macky and Joan Vujcich, means this programme can be delivered at no cost to the participants.
BE INVOLVED
We’re committed to inspiring and championing young artists and creatives from across Tāmaki Makaurau. Join Auckland Theatre Company as a Youth Associate.
Learn more: atc.co.nz youtharts@atc.co.nz
2023 YOUTH COMPANY SUPPORTERS
Saints Peter Macky, Joan Vujcich
Angels Aaron Boonshoft, Andy Eakin & Paul Boakes, Ron Elliott & Mark Tamagni, Dame Jenny Gibbs DNZM, Charlotte & Ian McLoughlin, Chris & Anne Morris, Jane & Mark Taylor, Ian Webster, Anonymous (1)
Cherubs Graham Astley & Keiko Pulin, Anonymous (1)
Friends Brenda & Stephen Allen, Bruce Allen, Margaret Anderson, Georgina & Stuart Anderson, Alan Barber, Andrew & Libby Barrett, Jonathan Bielski, Martin & Sarah Gillman, Debbie Graham, Rich Greissman & Randolph Hollingsworth, Bridget Hackshaw & Michael Savage, J Keith, Lulu & Philip Lindesay, Lisa McCarty & Jeanne Clayton, Tim Melville, Malcolm & Robyn Reynolds, Sarah & John Taylor, Kerry Underhill & Daan van Gulik, Roberta & Ian Varcoe, Simon Walton, Anonymous (3)
PRINCIPAL FUNDERS CORE FUNDER
