Ubu Repertory Theater

Ubu Repertory Theoter, founded in 1982 by Franse (Françoise) Kourilsky, is the only US theater dedicated to presenting contemporary French-language plays in English translation. For its first ten years of existence it operated from a small, second-floor theater in Chelsea; it has since moved into offices at 95 Wall Street. Ubu has remained committed to cultural cross-fertilization as an essential element in the welfare of the theatrical community.

From the description of Ubu Repertory Theater Script Collection, ca. 1982-1994. (New York University, Group Batchload). WorldCat record id: 58785154

Ubu Repertory Theater, founded in 1982 by Franse Kourilsky, is the only US theater dedicated to presenting contemporary French-language plays in English translation. An arena for cross-cultural exchange, Ubu calls on translators, playwrights, actors, directors and theater professionals to nurture international collaboration.

Ubu commissioned and published the first English translations of plays by well-known writers such as Aimire, Jean Tardieu, Simone Schwarz-Bart and Jean-Claude Grumberg . Ubu also introduced American readers to playwrights like Sony Labou Tansi, Bernard-Marie Koltand Tilly, all highly regarded in their own countries but just beginning to be known abroad.

In the last decade, Kourilsky took the idea of creating a theater that provides Americans with a unique window onto the stages of Francophone cultures, from Paris, Montreal, Brussels, Dakar, and Antanantarivo, to name a few. By making this new and challenging material accessible to Americans, Ubu has lived up to the inspiration of its name. As Ubu believes that cultural cross-fertilization is essential to the welfare of the theatrical community, it has no doubt strengthened the contemporary, international repertory.

After ten years of operating exclusively in a small, second-floor theater in Chelsea, Ubu Repertory Theater has moved into offices to 95 Wall Street and embarked on a series of larger Off-Broadway productions at the French Institute Alliance Franse's Florence Gould Hall and La MaMa E.T.C.'s Annex Theater. It also officially launched its own Ubu Bilingual Company. Since 1995, Ubu Repertory Theater has evolved a bilingual troupe as it presented critically-commended bilingual productions such as Jean-Paul Sartre's "Huis Clos/No Exit" (1985) and Albert Camus' "Le Malentendu/The Misunderstanding" and "Les Justes/The Just" (1998). The new company will also feature a design team whose ten-year body of work at Ubu will feature some of the most outstanding international theater productions in New York.

From the guide to the Ubu Repertory Theater Script Collection, ca. 1950-1994, (© 2012 Fales Library and Special Collections)