The Anatomy of Tyranny in Ubu Roi: Choreographing Chaos, Violence and the Grotesque
Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi was a provocative intervention which laid the foundation for the historical avant garde that significantly determined the course of historical movements in visual and performance arts. Having directed this play during a world going through political turmoil triggered by greed, war and violence, in this conversation, Deepan Sivaraman will meticulously unpack a fundamental question—what is the use of art, what does it do in our time? This talk is a dissection of the anatomy of tyranny in Deepan Sivaraman’s play Ubu Roi (2024) with a focus on the language of chaos, violence and the grotesque that takes shape in the devising of this play. Through a conversation with Kathyayini Dash, the talk will score through the historical and political contexts of the play, discuss dramaturgical deliberations surrounding the text’s adaptation and elaborate on Deepan Sivaraman’s scenography- centred language of theatre developed over the last two decades.
Speakers
Assistant Professor
School of Arts and Sciences
PhD (University of Cape Town)
Research Interests: Interdisciplinary Artistic Research, Practice-as-research and Practice-based Research Methodology in Theatre and Performance, Archive Studies, Migration Studies, Embodiment Studies, Decolonial Studies, Affect Studies
Professor
School of Arts and Sciences
MA (Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design)
Research Interests: Theatre as a Form of Knowledge Production, Theatre of Scenography, Post-Dramatic Theatre
Date: Friday, April 10, 2026
Time: 4:00 - 5:30 PM IST
Venue: Room 300, School of Arts and Sciences, Central Campus
