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 flesh-and-blood Pulcinella speaks to the audience about his secret passion for books and, in particular, for Shakespeare's Macbeth. While reading a book and manipulating chess pieces on a small table in front of a castelet, Pulcinella tells the story of Macbeth. At the end, convinced that it's impossible for such a wicked character to die, he casts a spell to keep Macbeth alive. Pulcinella enters in the puppet boots and "Mr. Punch Macbeth" appears on stage.
After hitting his wife Judy and making a sausage with the Baby, Mr Punch-Macbeth meets Hamlet, played by a Pierrot puppet. In an absurd dialogue between the two characters, their stories mingle and Hamlet ends up killing Mr Punch-Macbeth, shouting, « Essere o non essere, non è un problema! » (« To be or not to be isn’t a problem! »). Hamlet falls in love with Juliette, but his brother (a Sicilian pupo) and the puppeteer prevent the marriage of a glove puppet and a marionette. Juliette drinks a potion which makes her appear to be dead. Hamlet swallows a poison which turns him into a glove puppet representing Mobârak (the black valet of the Iranian puppet theater), in the role of Othello.
Othello mistakes Juliette for Desdemona and kills her before remembering that he himself is Romeo. In despair, he commits suicide. Iago enters, interpreted by a puppet with the head of the Neapolitan actor Totò, and proclaims himself king of the wicked. But he is immediately attacked and killed by a Polichinelle playing the part of Richard III. All the characters haunt the sleep of Polichinelle-Richard III: Mr Punch-Macbeth, Hamlet-Romeo, Othello, Iago. In the end, he is pursued by Death, but a horse with Pulcinella’s white hat and black half-mask comes to save him. At this moment, a marotte representing Shakespeare intervenes to bring the show to an end. Accompanied by the song Che cosa sono le nuvole? by Domenico Modugno and Pier Paolo Pasolini, taken from Pasolini's movie of the same name, the puppets make a final appearance on the puppet booth stage.

Full-view manipulation

Armed rod marionette

Marotte

String marionette

Actor and puppet

Object theatre

All audiences

Leone Bruno

Italy

Naples

Manuscript

Wickedness

Evil

Serial murder

Impossible love

Love

Jealousy

Plot

Puppets

Parodistic

Neapolitan

Miscellanea di drammi shakespeariani in guarattellesco by Pulcinella Cetrulo

Pulcinella

Witch

Macbeth

Lady Macbeth

Messenger

Duncan

Banquo

Macduff

Punch

Judy

Hamlet

Romeo

Pierrot

Juliet

Puppeteer

Tybalt

Count Paris

Othello

Mobârak

Iago

Totò

Richard III

Polichinelle

William Shakespeare

Public

Crocodile

Sculptor monk

Death

Stabbing

Sword fight

Transforming one character into another

Transforming scenery

Storyteller

Thwarted love

Metamorphosis

Fake death

Nightmare

Apparition of Death

Monologue

Spectacular turn of events

Pulchi Shake and Speare