Ubu Roy is a one-act comic chamber opera by Peter Thompson. Ubu Roy is a political satire, based on the notorious Absurdist play, Ubu Roi, by Alfred Jarry. It is the story of Père Ubu, a stupid, lazy, and gluttonous nobody, whose strength and intellectual prowess exist only in his own self-obsessed imagination. Goaded by by his equally selfish and rapacious partner, Mère Ubu, Ubu improbably manages to assassinate the King of a mythologized Poland, and place himself on the throne. The two destroy everything of value around them, before literally sailing away when things go sideways, leaving the wreckage of war and misery behind them.
The world is filled with shit! The sky is filled with shit! The toilet’s filled with shit! And the bottle is empty! -Père Ubu
You’re a pile of shit yourself, Père Ubu! – Mère Ubu
Ubu Roy is emphatically not grand opera. It is silly, rude, and approachable. It is composed for a smaller theatre environment, where the audience and performers have a much more intimate connection, and subtleties of movement and vocal intonation can more effectively communicate the characters and plot.
The music follows the rise and fall of Père and Mère Ubu in a clownish style strongly influenced by the Commedia Dell’Arte. The text (in English) is deliberately childish, earthy and rude, eschewing, and sometimes mocking, archaic dramatic traditions. Both text and music are intended to be colourful, enjoyable, and engaging to audiences with little or no experience of opera or classical music.
Ubu Roy was workshopped in the Spring of 2018, and presented in a concert performance in October 2018, in Hamilton.
Recording Credits: Christine Chesebrough, violin; Gordon Cleland, cello; Erika Reiman, piano; Julia Morson, Mère Ubu, Peter Thompson, Père Ubu