Inspired by Ubu Roi, Alfred Jarrey's radical 19th century play about the inevitable corruption of power, a group of Goucher students decided to update the play to meet today's challenges and to stage a series of street theater performances. Directed by theater major Iris Kirsh, the participants developed their short scenes by reading the play and trying to relate key themes to current events. While not inspiring riots, as did the original Parisian performance of the play, the students tackled issues of gender, the school system, and Bush's foreign policy.

In the first act of the contemporary three act street performance, Dr. Ubu addresses the marriage problems of a couple that has come in for counseling. Treating the wife, who is seeking divorce, as if her judgment is flawed, Dr. Ubu tries to correct her "misconceptions" about her current, heterosexual relationship. As she explains that she no longer feels that her marriage is allowing her to feel equality, only unexpected responsibility, and confesses her love for a female co-worker, Dr. Ubu runs a series of tests on her. The husband complains that not only are the household chores not being done, but that he feels disrespected by the relationship between his wife and Nancy, the female co-worker. Both men decide to address the "problem" of the wife, and insist upon experimental treatment. The cure, according to Ubu, is the disembraining machine, borrowed from the original Ubu Roi play, renamed the Enlightener in this skit. Forced through the machine, the woman who emerges on the other side is, aside from wearing a ridiculous smile, complacent and eager to serve her husband.

Act two takes place in a private meeting of the president, President Ubu, the secretary of state and a defiant member of his administration. As the dissenting administration figure calls attention to the atrocities that have been brushed under the carpet during the war in Iraq, the president and secretary of state threaten him. His only hope for keeping his job, according to his bosses, is to go through the disembraining machine, called the United Front in this scene. He emerges from the other side as a clone of the president, sharing in both his tastes and morals.

The machine gets renamed a third time for the final scene, which addresses the problems with the Baltimore public schools. Mayor Ubu informs the public that rather than fix those problems that exist, such as low teacher pay, poor building conditions, low school funding and the cutting of vital programs, he is shutting down the schools altogether and opening the Ministry of Education. For the most part, the people of Baltimore agree and see the machine as a valid solution, walking through willingly. Eventually, a few people are skeptical and fight back, but their resistance only lasts a second and they are all pushed through, exiting with an enormous cardboard smile. The mayor receives two awards, one from McDonalds and the other from the local army recruitment offices, which are both pleased to receive compliant, mind-numbed workers.

Street theater has both its drawbacks and strengths. It tends to be hard to gather an audience and deliver a message quickly enough to keep the attention of those who are watching. If successful, however, street theater can carry an alternative or radical message that might not otherwise be publicly accessible. Recognizing the importance of brevity and aesthetic appeal, Kirsch intends to embark on another street theater production during the BioTech Conference in Philadelphia (June 18-20). Although it will be an entirely different play and cast, it will build upon the experience of the Ubu Roi project. If interested in being a part of the new project, contact Iris at Iridessent-AT-riseup.net.