“Shit!”
Thus begins Alfred Jarry’s play “Ubu Roi,” which premiered December 10, 1896, and which ended in a riot.
In the play, Ubu murders the king of Poland and declares war on Russia, which he loses. Once in power, he heavily taxes the people and slaughters the nobles for their wealth. He is greedy, infantile, vulgar, stupid and cruel, relentless in his pursuit of power, and brutal in his personal relationships. He also seems an awful lot like President Trump. But how can we compare Ubu’s Napoleonic attempt to conquer Russia with Trump’s threats to conquer Greenland and Panama? Or Ubu’s attacks on the wealthy with Trump’s mass deportations and prison camps for immigrants (and anyone else his thugs suspect as “foreign”)? Or his attacks on trans folks; his slashing of social programs, civil liberties and climate mitigation?
#trump #ubu #pereubu #alfredjarry #poland #russia #greed #trump #greenland #panama #immigration #transrightsarehumanrights #lgbtq #prison #taxes #deporation #civilliberties #climate #uburoi
