Ubu and the Truth Commission

William Kentridge & Handspring Puppet Company - Ubu and the Truth Commission (South Africa)

Ubu and the Truth Commission combines puppetry, performance by live actors, music, animation and documentary footage.

The play is based on the hearings of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and on a 19th century licentious slob – Ubu Roi. The play was created in 1888 by the French playwright, Alfred Jarry, when he was still a student. In this production Ubu is a policeman for whom torture, murder, sex and food are all variations of a single gross appetite.

Ubu and the Truth Commission will be restaged in 2014, in collaboration with the Edinburgh International Festival.