Saturday, October 29, 2016

Twin Cities Horror Festival V: Ubu for President by Four Humors

What's It About: "Ubu is a disgusting creature. Ubu is going to be president. Come celebrate the worst of humanity with Ubu!"

[Eeee, this was not my jam. I'll let my less delicate and prudish sister tell you about it.]

Jules says:
Four Humors returns to the Horror Festival with a new and timely show that casts a harshly cynical light on our political and electoral system, with occasional jabs in the direction of a particular large target in this year's race. The show depicts a slightly alternate universe version of the United States in which a politician conspires with big business, the military, and the church, all portrayed in outrageous caricatures.

Ubu for President is based on the Alfred Jarry play Ubu Roi, which opened and closed on one night in December 1896. According to this Paris Review story:
It lives in the annals of drama because it offended almost everyone who saw it. In this, it prefigured modernism, surrealism, Dadaism, and the theater of the absurd.
By that measure, Four Humors' adaptation is a success. It's definitely profane, and the humor is a little too close to reality, which makes more scary than funny at times. So though it's not in the conventional "horror" genre, it's definitely unsettling.

If You're Sensitive and/or Delicate: There is a lot of swears and it's pretty dang profane, if you mind that kind of thing.

In Short: If you're a huge Four Humors fan, you'll love it. The audience certainly did.

Hot Tip: Loved last year's Four Humors TCHF show Mortem Capiendum? You can catch it in New Prague at the lovely Daleko Arts theater on November 11 and 12. I highly recommend both the show AND Daleko Arts.