GESTAS DE PAPÁ UBÚ

 

TECHNICAL DATA

 

AUTHOR: Raúl Hernandez Garrido

 

TITLE: Gestas de Papá Ubú

 

THEATRE COMPANY: Compañía Ferroviaria de Artes Escénicas

 

DIRECTOR: Paco Maciá

 

DATE AND PLACE OF THE REPRESENTATION: 9-27 November 2005 in “L’Altre Espai”.

 

 

CAST

Technical

Stage design: Ángel Haro

Illumination: José María Cerdeiriña “CIRU”

Wardrobe: Pascual Peris

Portrayal: Isabel Úbeda and Paco Maciá

Sound: Jose Miguel Linares

Music: Pepe Ferrer

Photographic: Jordi Pla

Imagen: Germinal Comunicación

Production: Helia Gavaldá

                Cía Ferroviaria, S.L.

 

 

Performers

Papá Ubú  ………………………………..Manuel Hernández

Mamá Ubú ……………………………….Gema Segura

Memnón

Monomonarca

Mandamás

Pueblo……………………………………Mario Esteban

Palotín

Pueblo

Soldado

Juez

Nobles…………………………………….Emma Lopez/ Eloísa Azorín

Nobles

Palotín

Conciencia

Pueblo…………………………………......Cristian Weidmann

Tatana

Arqueopterix………………………………Leticia Ñeco/ Ana belen Linfante

 

 

 

 

 

PLOT

 

The stage is dark. We can hear music. We can see two panels of wood, as scenery.

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Papá Ubú is a bad person. He wants to “mierdrandizar” the world. His wife is Mamá Ubú, who loves Memnon Fauston, the singer. He wants to kill Ubú, and he says to his wife that she can kill him. Mamá Ubú thinks that if Ubú kills the Monomonarca, then Ubú will be killed, too. And she convinces Ubú to kill the Monomonarca. Ubú and the Monomonarca are friends. They are seen the troops parade. Mamá uBú says to her husband that he should kill him when his soldiers can see him. But Ubú kills the Monomonarca when there aren’t soldiers over there. The conscience of Ubú appears. But Ubú kills it. Ubú wants to be a tyrant, as Hitler, Franco… The common people of the village go to palace to see Ubú. They complain for food, because they are hungry. Ubú says that the village only needs “mierdra”. Mamá Ubú and the singer want to have a revolution, and Memnon Fauster is going to be the leader for the end of Ubú. Ubú condemns the people as nobles, music, actors, and capitalists… to the death. Ubú knows that his wife and the singer are together. And he catches the singer and he is condemned, too. Moreover, Ubú goes to other country to make business. He wants to have the 90 per cent of the business.  The businessman is the Monomonarca. They go together to China. They make business and the Monomonarca leaves Ubú for a girl. For that Ubú gets angry with him, and he is condemned, too. At the end, Memnon Fauster and Ubú fight in a ring, like the boxing. Ubú is the winner, and Mamá Ubú goes with him. Furthermore, Mamá Ubú has a baby. And Ubú kills him, who is identical to him.

 

 

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

 

In this play, we can see a lot of characters.

- Papá Ubú.- is the main character. He is bald, ugly and short. He wants to “mierdrandizar” the world. He wears a trouser, a jacket and a short sweater. When he has the power, he wants to be a tyrant. He detests the common people of the village and all the people in general. He also treats badly his soldiers. Ubú doesn’t know speak well. He confuses words (for example he says “endivia” instead of “envidia”; or “mierdra” instead of “mierda”…). He goes to China to make business and he doesn’t give importance to the people who are working for hours and don’t have money to eat. At the end, Ubú declares the war to his enemies. And he fights against Memnon and wins. Moreover, he kills his son.

 

 

-Mamá Ubú.-  is Ubú’s wife. She loves the singer, Memnon Fauster. For that, she plans that her husband kills the Monomonarca and like this, he will be condemned. But it doesn’t happen like this. He wears a red dress. She and the singer declare a revolution against Ubú. At the end, she goes with Ubú, and she has a baby, who is killed by Ubú, his father. There is a scene where Mamá shows the boobs.

 

-Memnon Fauster.- is the singer, also called “Gran Coloso”. He wants to see Ubú die. He loves Mamá Ubú. He is the leader of the revolution against Ubú. At the end, he fights against Ubú and loses.

 

-Monomonarca.- is friend of Ubú. He is the ruler. He is killed by Ubú. But after, he sees Ubú in a foreign country where the Monomonarca is. They go together to make business, but at the end, the Monomonarca leaves Ubú for a pretty girl in China. He wears white trousers and blue jacket, and a cap, and he seems to be a sailor.

 

-Common people.- they represent the poor village. They go to the palace where Ubú lives to reclaim food, because they are hungry. But Ubú says no, says that for the village, he has “mierdra”.

 

-Soldier.- is a soldier of Ubú. He protects Ubú. But Ubú treats badly him, he batters him.

 

-Conscience.- Is the conscience of Ubú. It appears when Ubú is going to kill the Monomonarca, and when Ubú is condemned the people. But Ubú ignores it. It wears a nappy and aviator glasses.

 

 

SPACE

 

The action occurs in the stage, the characters don’t exit over it. In the stage, we can see two panels of wood. And then, it appears other different things, which are the atrezzo.

 

 

ILLUMINATION

 

At the beginning of the play, all is dark, and then the light appears when characters appear. In the play, there is a faint light in the majority of scenes, and in the rest, there are about 15 focuses that illuminate the stage. When characters disappear to the scene, the light turns off. And when the characters appear in scene again, the light comes on.

 

 

WARDROVE

 

The clothes of the characters are very different. The Monomonarca wears a dress that is similar of a sailor; Ubú wears trousers and a sweater that is short. Mama Ubú wears a red dress that seems to be torn; Memnon wears black trousers and a leather jacket; the conscience wears a nappy and aviator glasses… Characters don’t change clothes in the play.

 

 

 

ATREZZO

 

We can see the two panels all the play in the stage, but also a big chair that is the throne of Ubú (is very simple, big and thin); a big box that is round (that intends to seem a trap door); a wheelchair, a flag that is similar to the flag of the U.S.A. (with bars and crosses but in black and white); a microphone and a ring where take place a fight between Ubú and Memnon; and finally, the big round box that intends to seem a tunnel.

 

 

AUDITORIUM

 

In the representation that I saw, there were only seven people. For that, we could hear very well the play and we could see it in the fifth row. We only applaud at the end of the play and it was a short applaud.

 

 

PERSONAL OPINION 

 

In my opinion, this play is confusing, because I couldn’t understand what was happened since the play had finished. But this play is interesting, too, because the topic is good, and the difficulty is how this topic is pointed. For that, I recommend this play for adults, and if they pay attention to the representation, I am sure that they will enjoy a lot.