Guignol tells the Directeur (Director) that he thinks highly of theatre. He asks to be introduced to the audience, and jokes with him about being made of wood. Ubu kills the king Venceslas. The Queen dies, and the Ombre (Shadow) of one of her ancestors gives the young prince Bougrelas a sword, so that he can avenge his father. Ubu robs and slaughters Nobles, dismisses the judges and makes them all fall through the trapdoor. Ubu goes fight the Russian army, and Mère Ubu (Mother Ubu) and her accomplice Giron try to steal his treasures while he is away. On the battlefield, Ubu is chased out by the Russian army led by the Tzar. An Ours (bear) attacks general Lascy and prevails. In the meantime, Ubu has taken shelter in a tree. Mère Ubu meets her husband and they both prepare to leave for France. But Bougrelas appears and has them arrested by the Gendarmes (Police), and asks for them to locked up in France and for Père Ubu (Father Ubu)’s brain to be removed.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

Jarry Alfred

France

Paris

Printed

Regicide

Tyranny

Theft

Voracity

Treasure

Slaughter

Army

Revenge

Police (French gendarmerie)

Comical

Grotesque

Farcical

Ubu's puppet in Ubu sur la butte, 1901.

French

Father Ubu

Mother Ubu

Captain

Queen

Ghost

General

Emperor

Noble

Clerk

Magistrato

Counselor

Financiers

Soldier

Russian

Pole

Ours

Horse

Constable

Prologue

Blow-with-a-stick

Song

Dance

Murder on stage

Apparition of a ghost

Parade

Plot scene

Battlefield scene

Chase

Fight with an animal

Final song

Ubu sur la butte

Ubu on the hilllock

A runaway slave meets a dragon which threatens to breathe fire on him; he asks the dragon whether it has the sultan’s permission to do so, predicting that the dragon will eat his former master before the guard kills it. But things do not turn out exactly as expected. Right before the audience, the dragon meets a knight who wants the sultan to recognise his superiority to become a knight too. The sultan refuses to talk, appointing the dragon to speak in his stead and authorising him to breathe fire on the knight. The slave returns in order to sit on the throne that he thinks empty – and it is indeed soon to be the case, because the sultan suddenly decides to follow in the deceased knight’s footsteps and take his place. Meanwhile, the fat Katja, who was dancing and singing for the sultan, has moved in with the dragon, and everyone is invited for coffee.

String marionette

Young audiences

Fühmann Franz

Germany

Märkisch Buchholz

Slave

Emancipation

Animals, Mythical

Reign

Despotism

Turkey

Forecast

Discussions

Tolerance

Vocation

Coffee

Slogan

Politics

Civism

Love

Couple

Society

Black

Humorous

Fantasy

Satirical

German

Wie wird man Oberdiskutierer

Magician

Fat lady

Dragon

Sultan

Knight

Spectacular turn of events

Intervention of the audience

Imbroglio

Talking animal

Object coming to life

Political allegory

Address to the public

Personification

Optional scene

Dialogue of the deaf

Improvised scene

Der glückliche Ritter von Trinitat

The happy Knight of Trinitat