Synopsis

A tune borrowed from the English mumming tradition has been adapted to enable the bold actors to enter. And then, as if we were standing at the entrance to a great building with a grand façade, Alfred Jarry himself will create a Lintel for the play.

Then at day break we encounter a pastoral scene where the kindly and unsuspecting Mr. Achras welcomes an uninvited guest into his home; it is Pere Ubu and his entourage. A storm and a chilling wind heralds a long night and as the darkness descends we enter the world of the Phonograph, a marine miasma in the deepest ocean. As the Phonograph sings her cracking siren song, Jarry regales us again with his transcendentally poetic prose.

Now in the very fundament of the play, in the Brazen Serpents lair, at the confluence of art and science all is revealed and yet nothing is clear. And just as the hour before dawn brings the darkest, dark, darkness, a lullaby brings a lulling by comforting the agony of death's argosy. Finally a song will reveal the moral of the play.

The Workshop Group

Performers

Kat Daniels: Jarry 2; Pere Ubu (right side); The Phonograph.

Dan Findley: Alfred Jarry; Three Palotins

Rachel Frizzi: Jarry 3; The Conscience; a Mosquito; a Palotin; Three packing cases; The Being.

Bryan Gallardo: Jarry 1; aFlunky; two Palotins; a Fly, Madame Ubu.

Dash Lea: Jarry 4; Mr. Achras; a Wasp; a Palotin; Barbapoux.

Nick Lowe: a Singer; a Musician; a Masked personage.

Chad Wheeler: Pere Ubu (left side); a Caterpillar.

Production

Carolyn Hoerdemann: Assistant director.

Nick Lowe: Director; Producer.

Technical Support

Dan Findley: Set design and construction.

Rachel Frizzi: Costume; Puppet dresser.

Carolyn Hoerdemann: Workshop facilitator.

Shalalae Jamil/Russ Watson: Video documentation

Hai Minh Nguyen: Lighting technician

Amanda Kay: Lighting designer

Nick Lowe: Production design; Puppet and Mask maker.

Hai Minh Nguyen/Carolyn Hoerdemann: Stage manager.

Support

Jeff Abell: Music workshop facilitator.

Kirk Anderson: Workshop facilitator.