Ubu Roi

Compagnie Le Commun des Mortels

Welcome to Ubu’s World, Listen to the Language of Ubu

After work, leave behind the seriousness of the day, the fatigue, and those lingering frustrations. For one evening, hand them over to the theatre.

Tonight, there is no need to sit stiffly or behave elegantly. Simply step inside and follow Père Ubu as he tumbles, laughing and stumbling, into a world that is crude, absurd, outrageous—and strangely familiar.

Here, there are no majestic crowns, only desire gone crooked. No dignified royal court, only a chaotic stage where obscenities fly, gold coins disappear into hungry mouths, and truth itself becomes a joke.

Ubu Roi explodes like a comic bomb. Clowning, puppetry, object theatre and video collide on stage, exposing greed, violence, opportunism and fantasies of power with a brilliance that is at once unsettling and hilarious.

The language of Ubu is vulgar, ridiculous and excessive, yet every line seems rolled straight out of reality. This is not a refined lesson in literature, but a theatrical carnival that makes you laugh while sending a shiver down your spine. It does not offer an escape from reality—it illuminates reality through absurdity.

Created by the French theatre company Le Commun des Mortels and directed by Valéry Forestier, Ubu Roi has been performed more than 1,000 times around the world. It belongs to lovers of the absurd, the avant-garde and dark humour—and equally to those taking their very first step into a theatre.

Young audiences will be captivated by its madness. Adults will recognize, through their laughter, a world they know all too well.

Come and see Ubu Roi.

Come to Ubu’s world. Laugh out loud. Then see the world anew.

Credits

Writer: Alfred Jarry 

Director:  Valéry Forestier

Actors: Sabrina Horvais-Amengual, Benjamin Bernard, Valéry Forestier 

Literary Translation: WANG Zhao

Tour Manager: ZHANG Juntao

2026 China Tour Team

Producer: YAN Youchen

Scenography Director: SHEN Li

Executive Producer: WANG Xiaoman

Lighting Operator: ZHANG Chi

China Production/Production Company

Shanghai Nanchen Yihua Culture Media Co., Ltd. 

Milkuya Studio Co.，Ltd.

China Cooperation Company 

Ulon Group Co., Ltd

Special thanks to 

Ambassade de France en Chine

Consulat général de France à Shanghai

Alliance française de Shanghai