the play for this program, ubu roi, by alfred jarry. now, your host, mr. jose ferrer. like most burlesques, ubu roi is irreverent towards all that conventional society holds sacred. in the tradition of clowns and puppets, this play makes fun of ambition, nobility, idealism and government. its hero, if ubu can be called that, is a grotesque monster who mishandles everything he touches and everyone he knows. where traditional drama seriously deals with plots against a ruler or the downfall of a kingdom, ubu goes to work with water pistol and kazoo. where traditional drama shows the whispered conspiracy of a queen inciting her husband to greater power, ubu roi shows a blowsy-looking, overstuffed woman hurling obscenities as undignified as any uttered by her husband. and where traditional drama carefully builds a plot from opening scene to final resolution, ubu roi jumps around in time and space, deliberately episodic, showing that plays should be constructed to match a world that doesn't make sense. at first glance, you may be amused by this comedy and yet startled to fin

the play for this program, ubu roi, by alfred jarry. now, your host, mr. jose ferrer. like most burlesques, ubu roi is irreverent towards all that conventional society holds sacred. in the tradition of clowns and puppets, this play makes fun of ambition, nobility, idealism and government. its hero, if ubu can be called that, is a grotesque monster who mishandles everything he touches and everyone he knows. where traditional drama seriously deals with plots against a ruler or the downfall of a kingdom,