Satirical singalong set to raise a laugh at Leeds Playhouse

Kneehigh’s Ubu! is a comedic study of power and populism - and what better form of popular culture to demonstrate this than karaoke?

It is based on Alfred Jarry’s ground-breaking play Ubu Roi, which caused riots when first staged in Paris in 1896.

The production is being staged at Leeds Playhouse’s Quarry Theatre and runs from Tuesday, February 4, to Saturday, February 8.

Conceived by Carl Grose, Charles Hazlewood and Mike Shepherd, it smashes together Jarry’s gleefully rude and deliberately childish script with a crowd-pleasing singalong and a sharp line in contemporary political satire.

The show is led by Katy Owen’s tiny, tyrannical Pa Ubu and Mike Shepherd’s pouting, preening Ma Ubu alongside the ever versatile Kneehigh ensemble – a six-strong cast, who create an instant rapport with the audience – and band The Sweaty Bureaucrats.

The selection of songs, arranged by Charles Hazlewood, are inventive and cannily chosen, ranging from ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears and ‘War’ by Edwin Starr to ‘Uptown Funk’ by Mark Ronson and ‘Close to You’ by The Carpenters. And the atmosphere created in the theatre is distinctly festival-like.

Writer and co-director Carl Grose explains how Ubu! came about - and why the petty protagonist still resonates with modern audiences.

He said: ‘When Alfred Jarry’s play received its premiere at the Théâtre de l’OEuvre in Paris on December 10th 1896 there was, so the story goes, a full-on riot. Audiences and critics alike were confronted with sights and sounds of such outrageousness, that pandemonium broke out and the production was shut down after only two performances.

‘Like all great artists Alfred Jarry was a disrupter, and Ubu was his weapon of mass disruption. A personification of chaos, a lord of misrule, a howling, hysterical metaphor for greed, lies and corruption.

The main character was designed to be both laughed at and despised, and that’s still the case. He is here to gather us together as his prisoners, his acolytes, his victims – or his potential usurpers. He is a reminder that those in power will do their damnedest to make their reality our normality.

It’s up to us to collectively remember that there’s nothing normal about Ubu and his ilk. His behaviour beggars belief. He is cruel, nonsensical, cowardly, aggressive and beyond vile in his actions. Career-mad, he looks totally ridiculous, puts money over humanity in a heartbeat and has a vocabulary that leaves a lot to be desired. What an absurd creation, eh?’

To book tickets visit leedsplayhouse.org.uk or call the box office on (0113) 213 7700;