Wednesday, September 8, 2010

H a p p y B i r t h d a y, A l f r e d J a r r y

It is September 8th.  The 137th circumnavigation of the earth round the sun, since the birth of the great French playwright and discoverer of Pataphysics.  As mentioned in my previous post,  Jarry pioneered the "Theater of The Absurd" and is considered a singular force behind both Dadaism and Surrealism.  We owe much to Alfred Jarry.  So please, take a moment to toast* the birthday of a great man.

If you wonder why I carry on about Jarry to this extent,  it is because he has been a literary hero and inspiration to me since I was sixteen,  when my friend Gene took me to La Mama to see the phenomenal  Ubu Roi,  a viscous and terribly silly political satire.  And a play which still creates controversy whenever it is (so very occasionally) performed in France, more than 100 years after it was written.


*water or apple juice only please- out of respect for the whole absinthe thing, which probably killed him.

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