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Synopsis
The opera is a fairly faithful adaption of the Alfred Jarry's play Ubu Roi, which is itself a parody of William Shakespeare's tragedies (particularly Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear), combining the subject of bloody power struggles with comedic and absurdist elements. The story centers around the titular Ubu, an ambitious but physically unintimidating and cowardly captain in service to the King Wenceslaus of Poland. Wenceslaus being deeply unpopular as the result of a poorly executed war between Poland and Russia, Ubu's wife convinces him to kill the king and usurp his throne. The power-hungry and amoral Ubu is won over by the plan and quickly sets about recruiting unscrupulous members of the king's court, chiefly fellow captain Bordure. The coup is completely successful, and the king is murdered, but his wife and his son, Crown Prince Bougrelas, escape, although the queen dies shortly after.
Ubu uses most of the treasury to shower the common people with wealth and buy their loyalty to his rule with increasingly opulent displays. The new king then sets about slowly isolating and slaughtering many of the other powerful figures in Poland, including the most influential members of the nobility, the judiciary, and the nation's financial ministers and administrators, all to feed his continuing greed for wealth and a desire for complete control of the state. He eventually turns even upon his allies, killing key figures of the revolution and imprisoning Bordure. When even these moves fail to satiate his need for wealth and power, he begins levying crippling taxes upon the common people.
Meanwhile, Prince Bougrelas has traveled to Russia and secured an alliance with the Czar, who agrees to use his army to help restore Bougrelas to power. Bougrelas returns to Poland ahead of the army and incites revolution against the now deeply unpopular Ubu. Ubu's wife conspires to steal hidden wealth from the palace, but is thwarted by Bougrelas. Meanwhile, Ubu and his remaining lieutenants engage in a series of battles with the Czar, but despite some initial success, are routed. Ubu returns to the capital where Bordure is executed. Ubu, his wife, and the remainder of their retinue then flee the country on a ship, intending to settle "anywhere worthy enough to accept us".
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Title Information
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