The first night of the last weekend ...

... was nuts on the Ubu side. Absolutely nuts. From looking at these shadowy onlookers near the beginning of the evening--

--you probably would not guess that they would be our wildest audience yet. They took the notion of "play" to unprecedented extremes; several of us seriously worried we might have a riot on our hands. NOT the kind of riot Ubu provoked in its first incarnation, when people thought it went too far, but the kind of riot where they were eager to go even farther than we were willing to. Trust me, the place looked like a frat house after a beer blast by the time we (er, they) were done.

As the Carnival Barker, I am partly responsible for the mayhem, because I gave these otherwise innocent-looking folks the very weapons they would soon use against us. (Ever been shot in the face with a Nerf dart?) But I don't think I added that much more to the mix last night than usual. These people just felt like getting rowdy. Spring fever, perhaps? And don't assume it was younguns--the oldest two people in the crowd were the ringleaders.

Ironically, we had originally thought this level of madness might transpire every night, and then when it didn't, we started to take for granted that all future Ubu viewers would be polite and respectful and suss out the unspoken etiquette of our unusual setup. But no!

Me, I thought the whole affair was fascinating as a study in mob psychology. (As Ma Ubu put it after the show, "I've never been on the receiving end of a 'Power to the people!' chant before this.") Then again, I wasn't the one getting pelted with plastic paratroopers and dodging 70 exploding confetti bomblets.

What will tonight's final (and already long sold-out) performance bring? Stay tuned!

Live from our second Friday night show!

Here we are, live on the Ubu side of the wall, during our 3rd performance. Going well, so far, I'd say. Well, things are not looking so good for Pa Ubu or Woyzeck, but that's none of our concern. Let's hear what the Ubu audience has to say thus far:



FREE CANDY!! - Catherine Willett

Definitely choose the "playing" side... mad fun. - Matt Uebbing

Playing drinking games with my son on the "action" side...fun! CHRIS UEBBING

I ... I saw a bear lose its head! - Christopher Schobert

who wants to play Super Ubu Smash Brothers? the playing side does ... Jared Mobarak

You like that don't you? Adam Boyle

Boggerlas is h-o-t-t hot ~Stacey Kromer

The robots are awesome!! Brandon Passno

Live from the week 2 pickup rehearsal PLUS! We've got Twitter now!

First things first: We've got a Twitter account now, so if you'd like to get a special message from midway through the show (or any other time when you least expect it), just become one of our first followers and we'll tweet you right.

Now, then, bearing in mind John's apology for not including more Woyzeck images in his ever-more-ravishing slideshow, here's a shot (taken about two minutes ago) of the soldier and his captain from a perspective absolutely no one can see during the play proper:



I think it's safe to say that we all feel like the first week of the show was about a month ago, so it's nice to be reuniting for our weekly pickup rehearsal just to make sure we're all remembering who does what and what happens when. On the other hand, it's oddly regressive to be back in an empty room again, sans audience. If you haven't seen the show yet--or even if you've only seen half of it--we looking forward to seeing you in the next 2 weeks!

Opening night players, live from the Ubu side!

Check them out--what a lovely bunch!

Now let's hear what they think of the show so far...
(We're about halfway through now.)

This is my second time seeing The Real Dream Cabaret, and I always like their act. The characters are wonderfully weird, deranged, but also very endearing. The technology of the production is pretty awesome, the idea of two shows running at the same time. When given the choice between Play or No Play, choose Play. -Michael

As a first time viewer of this show it is interesting to know that you are able to watch the show at a different angle. There are actually two shows at once which makes you want to see both sides of the spectrum, The actors adapt to the changes and audience interaction quite well and are very aware of their surroundings. -Justin

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD.
-Ariel

WoyUbu is definitely a new theatrical experience for me. The question: "Watch or play," at the ticket desk really set the tone, and I think it should be seen from both ways. Ubu-world is great fun... But as far as the serious side of things, I have very little idea of what is going on in the other space, and I'm sure it's a completely different experience! -Kelsey


As for those who "play," they get a live experience of the inner workings of WOYZECK's mind, while watching his reality play out. Likewise, those who "watch" get to experience WOYZECK'S reality while watching his mind play out. The "players" get to take part in a nerf gun war, video game action, sword fights, a radio show, on screen filming, while nippling on treats...It's an experience one will likely not forget....

-Collin