INTERVIEW: Declan Donnellan

Declan Donnellan

“Is there a little bit of Ubu Roi in all of us?” Emily Hardy asks acclaimed theatre director Declan Donnellan. It was an interview that started like any other Declan Donnellan and I exchange pleasantries and begin, as intended, by discussing Cheek by Jowl’s touring production of Ubu Roi, directed by Donnellan and designed by company co-founder, Nick Ormerod. Alfred Jarry’s 1896 brutal satire comes to the Barbican in April as part of Dancing around Duchamp, a season celebrating Marcel Duchamp’s influence on artists of the 20th Century. Featured is the work of Duchamp’s predecessors, his collaborators and those who continued his radical legacy, safe in the hands of leading contemporary artists. It comes as no surprise that Cheek by Jowl, who, in my opinion, represent the country’s theatrical achievements internationally like a premiership football team, have their own contribution to make. “This production of Ubu grew out of a performance … Read more