Ubu and the Truth Commission

Following “Woyzeck on the Highveld” from 1993 and “Faustus in Africa!” from 1995, “Ubu and the Truth Commission” (1997) is the third theatre production in which William Kentridge cooperated with the legendary Handspring Puppet Company from Cape Town. The piece, written by South African novelist and playwright Jane Taylor, combines Alfred Jarry’s “Ubu Roi” from the year 1896 with the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission since 1996. It finds an ambiguous meaning between the founding text of absurd theatre and this protocol of historic events. Excerpts of the film “Ubu Tells the Truth” alongside other video animation by Kentridge are an essential element of this theatre piece and an example of how topics and motifs find varying forms of expression in Kentridge’s oeuvre.