HWS News
25 September 2026 HWS Theatre Opens Season with New Translation of Ubu the King
Grotesque farce explores tyranny, greed and the effects of unchecked power.
Edvard Munch painted The Scream in 1893. Three years later, French playwright Alfred Jarry unleashed another kind of howl with Ubu the King, a grotesque farce that skewers tyranny, greed and the abuse of power. This fall, HWS Department of Theatre brings a fresh take on Jarry’s provocative classic to the stage, featuring a new translation by HWS’ Ingrid Keenan.
Directed by Professor of Theatre H. May, Ubu the King will open HWS Theatre’s 2026-27 season, themed around tyrants, with performances Thursday and Friday, Oct. 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 31 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. in McDonald Theatre of the Gearan Center for the Performing Arts. In keeping with the transgressive spirit of Ubu the King, audiences are encouraged to come in costume to the Halloween evening performance.
In Keenan’s lively new translation, Ubu murders the King of Freeland, claims the crown for himself, governs ineptly, declares war, and is quickly deposed. His arsenal is not military prowess but lies, cruelty, selfishness and the grotesque.
Ubu the King is considered an early inspiration for the Theatre of the Absurd. Jarry’s world operates by its own warped logic, where actions have little consequence and language becomes uncoupled from meaning. The play’s origins were similarly irreverent: Jarry initially wrote it as a satire of a professor he despised but could not physically confront.
More than a century later, its portrait of ruthless leaders and power-hungry sycophants remains strikingly resonant. Packed with scatological humor, over-the-top language, marital squabbles, violence and greed, Ubu the King offers an angry, anarchic response to a world shaped by selfish ambition and unchecked authority.
Keenan’s translation updates and clarifies Jarry’s deliberately convoluted plot while expanding the imaginative world of Freeland, making the play accessible to a contemporary audience without losing its outrageous spirit. All performances will have integrated audio description, and the Saturday matinee will have ASL interpretation. Assisted listening devices are available for all performances.
As Associate Director for Student Enrichment in HWS’ Center for Teaching and Learning, Keenan oversees the Writing Fellow, Study Mentor, Athletic Study Mentor and First Year Mentor programs.
Joining HWS in 2013, May serves as Chair of the Theatre Department and is the Donald R. Harter ’39 Professor of the Humanities and Social Science.
The production features scenic and lighting design by Ed Hallborg, sound design by Kelly Walker, costume design by Katharine Tarkulich, and audio description by Nicolas Shannon Savard ’15, MAT ’16. Ticket information can be found here.
Rehearsal photo by Kalila Caringal '27.
