Unit 9 - UBU ROI
Unit 9 - Ubu Roi
Context
Ubu Roi is a play written by Alfred Jarry and it was first performed in Paris at the theatre de l'OEuvre which caused a riotous response in the audience as it opened and closed on December 10, 1896. It is considered as a wild and wacky play in which the audience cannot take serious. It is a parody of William Shakespeare's Macbeth and shows the portrayal of Pa Ubu (Macbeth) in a comedy and humours attitude.
Pa Ubu is a eccentric character, therefore he has no control over his emotions such as rage, laughter or sadness. Pa Ubu is a renegade towards his alliance with the king of Baloney and is manipulated by ma ubu to take the throne of becoming king ubu by force and aggression. Although, some may disagree that it was manipulation by using Ubu's ego to make him believe it was his idea others say that ma ubu actually encourages Pa Ubu to take the throne to show that she cares for him but Ubu roi is a play based on hatred and jealousy therefore ma ubu herself only cares for her own benefit.
Pa Ubu has ego issues which has a huge affect on the play itself creating this smug and stuck up environment, this attracts a humours vibe towards Pa ubu allowing the audience to laugh at him even though he is suppose to be a king and have high status compared to the civilians under him which are known as "nobs" in the play.
Research
When researching about Pa Ubu I started off with the characters appearance judging his personality on his looks. I searched Pa Ubu on google and was really put off by the original appearance due to his oversized suit and plain make up so I decided I was going to portray my own personal version of pa ubu to the audience. I then moved to the script and studied the type of language Pa ubu was using which was really wacky as he used terms such as " bumbrain" and "godnagit". These terms are both childish and comedic.
Ubu roi is a comedic play, it is based on Macbeth which is a tragedy therefore I could play around with my character. I also used aspects of the joker as he once proclaimed "I thought my life was a tragedy but instead It was a comedy" 2019 Joker which also assisted me in my costume because I could make myself look like the joker by using make up. This was one of my favourite ideas as it suited Pa Ubu's absurdity in the play allowing me to enhance my attributes outside of the stage which also allows me to have a better performance on stage. This is because of the use of jokers alter-ego empowered me to play around with pa ubu's laugh and cruelty relating to scenes from the dark knight where the joker threatens his enemies.
I
I frequently watch movies in my spare time that portray power. Movies such as Scarface, Godfather and other crime movies are a great example of what power is and how it ends up turning out at the end which most of the time turns out to be a persons downfall due to an expanding ego. Macbeth (pa ubu) himself has a down fall due to Lady Macbeth (ma ubu) increasing his ego which leads to his death. My job was all about changing the tragedy and turning it into a comedy just like the joker .
During the middle of my research me and my classmate who portrayed dogpile went on a trip to central to get a spiritual feel of royalty by visiting tourist destination. We participated in a activity at London's Madame Tussauds as the staff took us through historic events such as the Victorian time era and other sculpture events. These activities helped me reach a certain level where I can picture the stage being somewhere else depending on the scenes for example act 3 scene 2 was going to be set in a palace. I would close my eyes and picture the stage having the same equipment like I saw in Madame Tussauds and just trying to act and make do with the equipment I was provided with.
Problem Solving
During the production of Ubu Roi, I didn't seem to have much problems, the script was being learnt during rehearsals and I kept up to date with any changes. The issues I faced were more to do with my groups attendance as some took Ubu Roi serious and showed up on time but there were many who didn't. This had an affect on my emotions as I would end up annoyed and at times demotivated but with the help of my teachers Monique and Shenagh I would end up back on my feet performing with what I had on stage. The attendance problem got solved during the end of the project as people seemed to get the gist that they would fail the course if they hadn't participated.
When I would be feeling demotivated at times I would talk to Monique or shenagh about the play trying to get my brain back in focus and get it going. Other times I would sit alone and think about what I really want in life and discuss with myself about how am I going to get there. Some issues I faced with my acting was trying to perfect my accent and gestures. During my rehearsals I came up with the accent of Pa Ubu by simply reading the script and experimenting on words and phrases. I tried to do a French accent as the play is originally French but it seemed unrealistic so I took a step back and observed my class and watched them perform listening to everyone and trying to take some bits and pieces in everyone to develop my own accent.
When working on my gestures I thought about Pa Ubu's attitude in the play and tried to relate it to someone who is a big figure in the world. I instantly thought of Conor McGregor the UFC fighter as an example for every gesture and this is because of his huge ego and cocky confidence. At home I studied his entrance and practiced it trying to perfect it with both of his legs going outwards and his hands swinging. I also try to perfect his laugh as I thought it would be a very affective thing to add into my character as I had hopes it would symbolise my character just like it symbolises him.
Rehearsals and practical skills
Rehearsals in the beginning of the unit ran smoothly as the whole class would sit in a circle and read the script giving Shenagh and Monique a clear view on who is suitable for what roles. After the script reading some actors in the class would get chosen to go inside the circle and perform an act including myself. This was a good idea that Monique came up with to get the class moving and not lose interest but after a couple of weeks people seem to be losing interest due to outside class worries which caused a lot of rehearsal delay as people that were needed for the scene were not there causing a lot of anger and frustration.
During the ending of our rehearsals people eventually got on track meaning it was possible to run the tech rehearsals on the final day. The tech rehearsal ran smoothly and I was able to finally perfect my character during those times as everyone was there and all the needed equipment was there.
Evaluation
After my performance I felt very proud of my self and my group due to all we have accomplished this year and I know that this is just the beginning steps of a big acting career. During the performance I was able to remember all of my scenes and when I had to be on. Although everything ran smoothly I ended up forgetting some lines. I solved this problem by improvising some of the lines and coming up with something comedic on the spot which thankfully got a response of the audience. During the transitions between scenes sometimes the setting up bit of the scene took a little while which meant that the audience would be waiting and I really disliked the fact that they would be waiting as I didn't want them to be bored. I solved this problem by coming on stage first and improvising some lines like "hurry up" or "you haven't sold the table again have you ma?" (If the table was not on the scene).
Activities that I took part in before the performance really helped me portray my character as being a high class lunatic with a touch of royalty. Activities such as going to Madam Tussauds and visiting the London tower had a big influence as it allowed me to get in touch with the royal atmosphere. The visit to London tower let me have the chance to see the queens guards transition between patrols. Actions like those symbolises Monarchy and loyalty which I could relate to the barmpots having that towards Pa Ubu and Dogpile.
Context
Ubu Roi is a play written by Alfred Jarry and it was first performed in Paris at the theatre de l'OEuvre which caused a riotous response in the audience as it opened and closed on December 10, 1896. It is considered as a wild and wacky play in which the audience cannot take serious. It is a parody of William Shakespeare's Macbeth and shows the portrayal of Pa Ubu (Macbeth) in a comedy and humours attitude.
In the beginning of the project Shenagh introduced us to the script of ubu roi and I immediately found my self really enjoying the script as I saw the play as a way of expanding my acting through taking on the main role as Pa Ubu himself which allowed me to pull off ridiculous acts with no limits. My first time reading the lines on the script was a little difficult as I was unfamiliar with the type of language that the play used. Words and phrases like "shikt" or "stagger me sideways" seemed weird and off putting at times but with the help of shenagh and my class mates I seemed to have gotten more comfortable with these phrases, creating my own way of portraying them to the audience.
When Shenagh assigned the roles of Ubu roi, I was given the main role as Pa Ubu (Macbeth) who is a very out of control character making him very attractive to play and take on the challenge of leading the whole play itself. This role is a huge step into improving my acting and leadership skills as an actor and individual and I believe this is because most people in the project look up to the main character as he/she has the ability to increase the energy of the whole play.Pa Ubu is a eccentric character, therefore he has no control over his emotions such as rage, laughter or sadness. Pa Ubu is a renegade towards his alliance with the king of Baloney and is manipulated by ma ubu to take the throne of becoming king ubu by force and aggression. Although, some may disagree that it was manipulation by using Ubu's ego to make him believe it was his idea others say that ma ubu actually encourages Pa Ubu to take the throne to show that she cares for him but Ubu roi is a play based on hatred and jealousy therefore ma ubu herself only cares for her own benefit.
Pa Ubu has ego issues which has a huge affect on the play itself creating this smug and stuck up environment, this attracts a humours vibe towards Pa ubu allowing the audience to laugh at him even though he is suppose to be a king and have high status compared to the civilians under him which are known as "nobs" in the play.
Research
When researching about Pa Ubu I started off with the characters appearance judging his personality on his looks. I searched Pa Ubu on google and was really put off by the original appearance due to his oversized suit and plain make up so I decided I was going to portray my own personal version of pa ubu to the audience. I then moved to the script and studied the type of language Pa ubu was using which was really wacky as he used terms such as " bumbrain" and "godnagit". These terms are both childish and comedic.
Ubu roi is a comedic play, it is based on Macbeth which is a tragedy therefore I could play around with my character. I also used aspects of the joker as he once proclaimed "I thought my life was a tragedy but instead It was a comedy" 2019 Joker which also assisted me in my costume because I could make myself look like the joker by using make up. This was one of my favourite ideas as it suited Pa Ubu's absurdity in the play allowing me to enhance my attributes outside of the stage which also allows me to have a better performance on stage. This is because of the use of jokers alter-ego empowered me to play around with pa ubu's laugh and cruelty relating to scenes from the dark knight where the joker threatens his enemies.
I
I frequently watch movies in my spare time that portray power. Movies such as Scarface, Godfather and other crime movies are a great example of what power is and how it ends up turning out at the end which most of the time turns out to be a persons downfall due to an expanding ego. Macbeth (pa ubu) himself has a down fall due to Lady Macbeth (ma ubu) increasing his ego which leads to his death. My job was all about changing the tragedy and turning it into a comedy just like the joker .
During the middle of my research me and my classmate who portrayed dogpile went on a trip to central to get a spiritual feel of royalty by visiting tourist destination. We participated in a activity at London's Madame Tussauds as the staff took us through historic events such as the Victorian time era and other sculpture events. These activities helped me reach a certain level where I can picture the stage being somewhere else depending on the scenes for example act 3 scene 2 was going to be set in a palace. I would close my eyes and picture the stage having the same equipment like I saw in Madame Tussauds and just trying to act and make do with the equipment I was provided with.
Problem Solving
During the production of Ubu Roi, I didn't seem to have much problems, the script was being learnt during rehearsals and I kept up to date with any changes. The issues I faced were more to do with my groups attendance as some took Ubu Roi serious and showed up on time but there were many who didn't. This had an affect on my emotions as I would end up annoyed and at times demotivated but with the help of my teachers Monique and Shenagh I would end up back on my feet performing with what I had on stage. The attendance problem got solved during the end of the project as people seemed to get the gist that they would fail the course if they hadn't participated.
When I would be feeling demotivated at times I would talk to Monique or shenagh about the play trying to get my brain back in focus and get it going. Other times I would sit alone and think about what I really want in life and discuss with myself about how am I going to get there. Some issues I faced with my acting was trying to perfect my accent and gestures. During my rehearsals I came up with the accent of Pa Ubu by simply reading the script and experimenting on words and phrases. I tried to do a French accent as the play is originally French but it seemed unrealistic so I took a step back and observed my class and watched them perform listening to everyone and trying to take some bits and pieces in everyone to develop my own accent.
When working on my gestures I thought about Pa Ubu's attitude in the play and tried to relate it to someone who is a big figure in the world. I instantly thought of Conor McGregor the UFC fighter as an example for every gesture and this is because of his huge ego and cocky confidence. At home I studied his entrance and practiced it trying to perfect it with both of his legs going outwards and his hands swinging. I also try to perfect his laugh as I thought it would be a very affective thing to add into my character as I had hopes it would symbolise my character just like it symbolises him.
Rehearsals and practical skills
Rehearsals in the beginning of the unit ran smoothly as the whole class would sit in a circle and read the script giving Shenagh and Monique a clear view on who is suitable for what roles. After the script reading some actors in the class would get chosen to go inside the circle and perform an act including myself. This was a good idea that Monique came up with to get the class moving and not lose interest but after a couple of weeks people seem to be losing interest due to outside class worries which caused a lot of rehearsal delay as people that were needed for the scene were not there causing a lot of anger and frustration.
During the ending of our rehearsals people eventually got on track meaning it was possible to run the tech rehearsals on the final day. The tech rehearsal ran smoothly and I was able to finally perfect my character during those times as everyone was there and all the needed equipment was there.
Evaluation
After my performance I felt very proud of my self and my group due to all we have accomplished this year and I know that this is just the beginning steps of a big acting career. During the performance I was able to remember all of my scenes and when I had to be on. Although everything ran smoothly I ended up forgetting some lines. I solved this problem by improvising some of the lines and coming up with something comedic on the spot which thankfully got a response of the audience. During the transitions between scenes sometimes the setting up bit of the scene took a little while which meant that the audience would be waiting and I really disliked the fact that they would be waiting as I didn't want them to be bored. I solved this problem by coming on stage first and improvising some lines like "hurry up" or "you haven't sold the table again have you ma?" (If the table was not on the scene).
Activities that I took part in before the performance really helped me portray my character as being a high class lunatic with a touch of royalty. Activities such as going to Madam Tussauds and visiting the London tower had a big influence as it allowed me to get in touch with the royal atmosphere. The visit to London tower let me have the chance to see the queens guards transition between patrols. Actions like those symbolises Monarchy and loyalty which I could relate to the barmpots having that towards Pa Ubu and Dogpile.
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