media contact: erica lewis-finein brightbutterfly[at]hotmail.com

CUTTING BALL THEATER CONTINUES 15TH SEASON WITH “UBU ROI” January 24-February 23, 2014 In a new translation by Rob Melrose

SAN FRANCISCO (December 16, 2013) – Cutting Ball Theater continues its 15th season with Alfred Jarry’s UBU ROI in a new translation by Rob Melrose. Russian director Yury Urnov (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company) helms this irreverent take on world leaders. Featuring David Sinaiko, Ponder Goddard, Marilet Martinez, Bill Boynton, Nathaniel Justiniano, and Andrew Quick, UBU ROI plays January 24 through February 23 (Press opening: January 30) at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street) in San Francisco. For tickets ($10-50) and more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205.

When Alfred Jarry’s UBU ROI premiered in Paris on December 10, 1896, the audience broke into a riot at the utterance of its first word. Jarry’s parody of Shakespeare’s Macbeth defies theatrical tradition through its disregard for audience expectations, replacing Shakespeare’s tragic hero with a greedy, sadistic ogre who becomes the King of Poland by force and through the debasement of his people. Set in a modern luxury kitchen, this re-visioned UBU ROI features a wealthy American couple who play out their fantasies of wealth and power to excess as they take on the roles of Mother and Father Ubu. Cutting Ball’s version of UBU ROI may bring to mind the fall from grace of many a contemporary political leader corrupted by power, from Elliot Spitzer to Dominique Strauss-Kahn. UBU ROI was developed as part of the 2013 edition of RISK IS THIS… The Cutting Ball New Experimental Plays Festival.

“For me, UBU ROI is the reflection of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Übermensch, an ‘Over-man’ or ‘Super- man,’ in Alfred Jarry’s false mirror,” said director Yury Urnov. “If it’s true that Nietzsche was one of the founding-fathers of the fascist aesthetic, then Jarry’s play can be perceived as the first anti-fascist work of art in which the author reveals the conflict between superhuman ambitions and the part of himself which is ‘human, all too human.’ I think of Alfred Jarry as the first realist, not just the first absurdist; I look forward to exploring his work in this context, and sharing this insightful and exciting new translation of his seminal play with the Cutting Ball’s audience.”

media contact: erica lewis-finein · brightbutterfly pr · brightbutterfly[at]hotmail.com CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENTS UBU ROI 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2 “In many ways UBU ROI is the beginning of avant garde theater,” said Cutting Ball Artistic Director Rob Melrose. “It had its premiere at the Théâtre de l’Oeuvre in Paris in 1896 and the utterance of the first word ‘Merdre’ caused riots rivaled only by premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. For many years, productions tried to capture the shock of the first production – a very tall order that many would argue is impossible in today’s world of South Park, performance art, and YouTube videos. UBU ROI has become a favorite of innovative auteur directors; the impossible epic, cartoon-like nature of the play makes it a delightful challenge for visionary directors. We are fortunate to have Yury Urnov, who grew up and trained in Russia, at the helm of Cutting Ball’s production; his directing career includes many breathtakingly bold adaptations of classic works.”

Continued Melrose, “In translating UBU ROI, my goal was to get back to some of Jarry’s original impulses. What is wonderful about this play is that on one hand it is the lowest of low comedy – appealing to our most vile instincts. On the other hand, it was written by a precocious and misunderstood genius with the highest level of intellect and invention. What is unfortunate about this play is that given the state of governments and human nature, it is always a contemporary play, always relevant.”

Director Yury Urnov makes his Cutting Ball debut with UBU ROI. Urnov recently started the American chapter of his career with the highly successful production of You for Me for You, spending the 2011-12 season as a Director-in-Residence at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC. Born in Moscow, Russia, Urnov graduated from the Russian Academy of Theater Art (GITIS) in 2000 and has directed over 40 productions in his home country, Europe, and Africa. He was one of the first to discover and direct plays by the first generation of post-Soviet playwrights, such as Maksym Kurochkin, Olga Mukhina, and Yury Klavdiev, who are now internationally recognized as the leaders of the New Russian Drama movement. In Russia, Urnov translated and directed the national premieres of Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore and Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone. Since 2002, he has worked closely with the Center for International Theater Development (directed by Philip Arnoult) on a number of international projects, including the 2009-2011 program New Russian Drama: Translation/Production/Conference, which brought over 20 contemporary Russian plays to America.

Rob Melrose is the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Cutting Ball Theater and works nationally as a freelance director. He has directed at the Guthrie Theater (Happy Days, Pen, Julius Caesar - with the Acting Company); Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Troilus and Cressida – in association with the Public Theater), Magic Theatre (An Accident, World Premiere); PlayMakers Rep (Happy Days); California Shakespeare Theater (Villains, Fools, and Lovers); Black Box Theatre (The Creature, World Premiere); Actors’ Collective (Hedda Gabler); The Gamm Theatre (Creditors); and Crowded Fire Theater (The

media contact: erica lewis-finein · brightbutterfly pr · brightbutterfly[at]hotmail.com CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENTS UBU ROI 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 Train Play), among others. Directing credits at Cutting Ball include the World Premiere of Krispy Kritters in the Scarlett Night; Strindberg Cycle: The Chamber Plays in Rep, Pelleas & Melisande, the Bay Area Premiere of Will Eno’s Lady Grey (in ever lower light); The Tempest; The Bald Soprano; Victims of Duty; Bone to Pick and Diadem (World Premiere); Endgame; Krapp’s Last Tape; The Taming of the Shrew; Macbeth; Hamletmachine; As You Like It; The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World; Mayakovsky: A Tragedy; My Head Was a Sledgehammer; Roberto Zucco; The Vomit Talk of Ghosts (World Premiere); The Sandalwood Box; Pickling; Ajax for Instance; Helen of Troy (World Premiere); and Drowning Room (World Premiere). He is a recipient of the NEA / TCG Career Development Program award for directors. Melrose has a B.A. in English and Theater from Princeton University and an M.F.A. in directing from the Yale School of Drama. He has taught at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, USF, the University of Rhode Island, and Marin Academy. In addition to UBU ROI, translations include No Exit, Woyzeck, Pelléas and Mélisande, and The Bald Soprano; he recently translated Eugène Ionesco’s The Chairs for Cutting Ball’s March 2013 production.

Alfred Jarry (1873 – 1907) was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France. Best known for his groundbreaking play UBU ROI (1896), which combined infantile humor, social satire, puppets, and Shakespearean parody, Jarry is often cited as a forerunner to the surrealist theater movement of the 1920s and 1930s. He wrote plays, novels, poetry, essays, and speculative journalism, presenting pioneering work in the field of absurdist literature. In his final years, Jarry, a bit of an eccentric, was a legendary and heroic figure to some of the young writers and artists in Paris, including Guillaume Apollinaire, André Salmon, and Max Jacob. In addition to UBU ROI, works for the stage include Caesar Antichrist (César- Antéchrist), Ubu Cuckolded (Ubu cocu), and Ubu Bound (Ubu enchaíné). Alfred Jarry’s career was brought to an unfortunate and early end when he died in 1907 at the age of 34 (from complications due to tuberculosis aggravated by drug and alcohol abuse), but his legacy lives on in the works of such playwrights as Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett.

Cutting Ball Theater has assembled a talented ensemble for UBU ROI.

An Associate Artist at Cutting Ball, David Sinaiko most recently appeared in the company’s productions of Krispy Kritters in the Scarlett Night, The Chairs, Strindberg Cycle: The Chamber Plays in Rep, Tenderloin, Lady Grey (in ever lower light), The Tempest, Krapp’s Last Tape, …and Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, The Bald Soprano, Victims of Duty, and Endgame. Other Cutting Ball credits include The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, The Sandalwood Box, Ajax for Instance, Macbeth, 365 Plays/365 Days, Woyzeck, Chain Reactions, and RISK IS THIS...The Cutting Ball New Experimental Plays Festival. Additional credits include productions at Golden Thread Productions, Crowded Fire Theater,

media contact: erica lewis-finein · brightbutterfly pr · brightbutterfly[at]hotmail.com CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENTS UBU ROI 4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 and San Francisco Playhouse; Sinaiko has been seen at the Goodman Theatre, The Actor’s Gang, and in the popular Bay Area one-man production of David Sedaris’ SantaLand Diaries. He was a founding member of Chicago’s New Crime Productions.

Associate Artist Ponder Goddard returns to Cutting Ball for UBU ROI; she last appeared in the company’s production of Strindberg Cycle: The Chamber Plays in Rep. Additional credits include Cutting Ball’s Taming of the Shrew and productions at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, The Cochrane Theatre (London), Grassroots Shakespeare London Company, 21 Limbs (London), and the Drama Centre.

Marilet Martinez was last seen on the Cutting Ball stage in the World Premiere of Tontlawald; she was also featured in the company’s Vanguardia festival and in the production of Mud, directed by Paige Rogers. Additional credits include productions at Crowded Fire Theater, Impact Theatre, Woman’s Will, Brava Theater, African-American Shakespeare Company, Teatrovision, San Francisco Mime Troupe, California Shakespeare Theater, SF Playwrights Center, Custom Made Theatre, Precarious Theatre, and Shadowlight Theatre, among others.

Rounding out the cast are Bill Boynton (Impact Theatre; As You Like It at Cutting Ball), Nathaniel Justiniano (Thrillpeddlers, WE Players), and Andrew P. Quick (Shakespeare Santa Cruz).

Co-founded in 1999 by theater artists Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal avant- garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. The company has commissioned, developed, and produced new experimental plays, and has partnered with Playwrights Foundation, and the Magic Theatre/Z Space New Plays Initiative to commission new experimental works. In addition to producing West Coast Premieres and re-imaging various classics, Cutting Ball Theater has produced nine World Premieres and seven World Premiere translations. Cutting Ball received the 2008 San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie award for outstanding talent in the performing arts, and was voted “Best Theater Company” in the 2010 San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay issue. The company also earned the Best of SF award in 2006 and “Best Experimental Theater Company” in 2012 from SF Weekly, and was selected by San Francisco magazine as Best Classic Theater in 2007. Cutting Ball Theater was featured in the February 2010 and 2012 issues of American Theatre Magazine. In 2012, Cutting Ball was awarded a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a three-year residency for resident playwright Andrew Saito. The American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards, awarded the company with a 2013 National Theatre Company grant.

media contact: erica lewis-finein · brightbutterfly pr · brightbutterfly[at]hotmail.com CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENTS UBU ROI 5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5 Following Cutting Ball’s new translation of UBU ROI, RISK IS THIS…THE CUTTING BALL NEW EXPERIMENTAL PLAYS FESTIVAL returns in February with five new works in staged readings that push the boundaries of what theater can be. Rounding out the main stage season in April, Cutting Ball presents the American Premiere of Samuel Gallet’s COMMUNIQUÉ N°10, in a World Premiere Translation, and directed by, Rob Melrose.

FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

Cutting Ball Theater continues its 15th season with Alfred Jarry’s UBU ROI in a new translation by Rob Melrose, helmed by Russian director Yury Urnov (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company). When UBU ROI premiered in Paris on December 10, 1896, the audience broke into a riot at the utterance of its first word. Jarry’s parody of Shakespeare’s Macbeth defies theatrical tradition through its disregard for audience expectations, replacing Shakespeare’s tragic hero with a greedy, sadistic ogre who becomes the King of Poland by force and through the debasement of his people. Set in a modern luxury kitchen, this re-visioned UBU ROI features a wealthy American couple who play out their fantasies of wealth and power to excess as they take on the roles of Mother and Father Ubu. UBU ROI may bring to mind the fall from grace of many a contemporary political leader corrupted by power, from Elliot Spitzer to Dominique Strauss-Kahn. UBU ROI was developed as part of the 2013 edition of RISK IS THIS… The Cutting Ball New Experimental Plays Festival.

DATES: Previews: January 24, 25, 8pm; January 26, 5pm Opens: January 30 (Press opening: Jan. 30, 7:30pm; Gala opening: Jan. 31, 8pm) Closes: February 23, 2014 All performances Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday-Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm, and Sunday at 5pm

UBU ROI special events – for more information visit cuttingball.com Gala Opening Night – January 31, 8pm, $50 tickets Friday Evening Artist Talkbalks – post-show talkbacks with the artists following the 8pm performance February 7, 14 and 21. Saturday Pre-and Post-Show Talkbacks – a pre-show discussion to learn more about the play, and post-show wrap-up session to share your experience – February 1, 8, 15 and 22; pre-show discussion at 7pm, post-show discussion following the 8pm performance. Learn French by Reading Ubu Roi – translate and explore the text of Alfred Jarry’s avant garde classic, Ubu Roi. Spend five Monday evenings exploring the cultural, artistic, linguistic, and unforeseen territories of Ubu Roi in a low-pressure setting with wine, fruit, cheese, and the spirited guidance of teaching artist, actor, director, and choreographer Emma Jaster; January 13, 27, February 3, 10, 17 - 5:30pm – 7pm; $125 for five sessions or $35 drop-in fee. RSVP to Paige Rogers - [email protected] by Jan. 9. January 25 – $10 ticket night – all tickets for this preview performance are just $10 January 26 – Russian Talk and Tea – join Russian director Yury Urnov for tea and a discussion about his vision for bringing Ubu Roi to life; event admission included in the ticket price for the performance.

media contact: erica lewis-finein · brightbutterfly pr · brightbutterfly[at]hotmail.com CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENTS UBU ROI 6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6

February 7 – Soiree Francaise – celebrate Alfred Jarry’s classic French play, Ubu Roi, with music, cheese, and a glass of wine; event admission included in the ticket price of the performance. February 14 – Love Sucks Pity Party – join Cutting Ball for a celebration of the dark side of love, complete with complimentary wine and candy; event admission included in the ticket price of the performance.

WHERE: The Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor St., San Francisco

TICKETS: For season membership, single tickets ($10-50), and more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205; group discounts available. Pay What You Can tickets are available to neighborhood residents for all productions. Free student walk-up tickets are available to students with valid student ID.

Ubu Roi is funded in part by Associate Producers Erik Blachford & Maryam Mohit, Scott Andersen & Laurie Edelstein, and Dave & Kate Yureta.

The Cutting Ball Theater’s 2013 - 14 season is made possible in part by The Compton Foundation, The Fleishhacker Foundation, The W.A. Gerbode Foundation, Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mental Insight Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Kenneth Rainin Foundation, The RHE Foundation, The San Francisco Arts Commission, The San Francisco Foundation, The Silicon Valley Foundation – Donors Circle for the Arts, The Zellerbach Family Foundation, and by individual donors.

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media contact: erica lewis-finein · brightbutterfly pr · brightbutterfly[at]hotmail.com