Writing
Related: About this forumWell, I shouldn't do this
I have a lot of projects needing prompt attention and my own fading timeline. But for some reason I became compelled to do this awful thing(with apologies to the deceased Alfred Jarry and Christopher Marlowe). I just offer as far as I am. In writing plays all the real editing comes in the execution, but without that unlikely event- which would get me deported to Guantamo- I hope someone understands this anyway. Any complete resemblance to a certain lie-trafficking Tariffist is impurely coincidental. Please stop me.
The Comical History of King Ubu
by Alfred Maralo
"I do not sing of suckers and tools
Nor all my fans, fantastic fools,
The House destroyed. Just close the schools!
There never has been, nor will you see
As great a man as ever can be-
Just say it aloud. It must be ME.
But now it comes with my final breath,
Vigorous and great with diet meth,
To out-deal the cards of Mister Death."
ACT ONE
The Oval Throne Room
UBU: (Loud and long fart) Fantastic! What a tough day and I still don't get the respect I am entitled to. But I will! Esteban! Get over here...NOW! Wait, you're not Esteban.
ESTEBAN # 2: Beside the fact you made me come over to do Esteban #1's job, he's been on the outs with you for a long time.
UBU: I don't feel well. This schedule is killing me. I should be relaxing and enjoying things more, though I admit it has been a lot of fun getting things done and done right! Unlike all my predecessors.
ESTEBAN #2: Thanks to your contract with Lucky Lucifer we can do anything!
UBU: I can do anything. But I am a little worried. My heart has been skipping a beat lately which it only did before when...someone young was around. I am beginning to worry I may have to actually honor the agreement before I am done. It DOES say I must be satisfied. My lawyers were pretty clear about that. Were they not, Mere Ubu?
MERE UBU: (wearily) If you say so. God knows, you only hear what you want to.
UBU: Don't mention that Name!
MERE UBU: Oh, God?
UBU: I have felt bad about dying before, but now with all this stress it all comes down to the last big Deal. For my soul. I will not be cheated by Death or anyone else. I've been bargaining all my life with no help from anyone else. No one has done it better, certainly not that sucker and loser the Devil. No, it is time to turn to God and see if I can get past this hard work with my legacy and soul intact. Just watch me.
MERE UBU: (aside) What? Go up in smoke like the Devil dispensing with stolen votes?
PERE UBU: Get that Pope of ours over here now! He can get me what I want. It's all written in my Bible so he has to help me get to Heaven!
ESTEBAN #2: The red phone, Sire! Ow, it's a little warm to the touch.
UBU: Idiot! Don't pick up...oh all right. Hand it here. (He puts on asbestos oven mitt, holds phone carefully away from a bandaged ear) Uh-huh, the problem? The contract? Talk to my lawyers...yes, the ones alive of course. Oh, yeah? I'll see YOU in court! They have to listen to me. I'm the King... Contract? What contract?... Signed in MY blood? I doubt it. I'll have my FBI guy do a DNA test on it... Stick to your own job and you'll get plenty of business because of me. Oh yeah? Well, I'll see you in Hell first!" (slams phone down, looks around)
Well, what?"
ESTEBAN#2: The white phone is ringing!
UBU: That Pope guy! About damn time! I might need him. I think I may have misspoke just now.
ESTEBAN#2: N-n-n-n-ot the Pope. I think...I believe...
UBU: Gimme that phone! Why is it every great man is surrounded by idiots? Hello, this is the King. Oh, not the Pope then...a messenger? Is this some kind of threat? I just deal with the top or else talk to my lawyers first...OK, I can listen a bit if it's an offer...Just a second...Will someone pour a bucket of ice on the red phone? It looks like it's going to explode. Yeah, could be an assassination attempt! The freezer is down the hall! Utterly surrounded here. I said, just a second! What's the urgency?
A. BLONDEBOT: (Enters in a rush, sees Mere Ubu, falters, recovers, bows): Sire, Missus Ubu!
UBU: What? I said I don't want to be interrupted, and I don't miss Mere Ubu. She's right here!
MERE UBU: That's LADY Ubu! And it should be Queen or Your Majesty.
UBU: Shut up. What is it, MISS Boundblot?
A. BLONDEBOT: The internets are buzzing with a new meme accusing you of incontinence..incompetence? "Ubu's booboo" is the catchphrase. it started on Twits4us.
UBU: Impossible. We own that platform. I'll text on our special site, DoubleTruth. Get me my cellphone.
ESTEBAN#2: Sire, Heaven is on the white phone...
UBU: They can just wait! ...Ooohhhh. my heart. Get me my pills and a diet soda! Longevity drugs my ass! They just give me the runs. I can't believe I am saying this, but maybe that texting will have to wait. Round up my usual bots and assign them to rebuttals, rebukes, and revenge. This is the Devil's fault. He's breaking his deal!
UBU: OK, who IS this on the line. You got two minutes. Wait. Lemme put this on speaker for my staff. Who's here by the way?
MINISTER OF SCIENCE: Will, your Science guy, Your Majesty!
UBU: Completely unnecessary...wait, you're that guy who couldn't even explain the Aquatic Equation to me- and what's it for anyway? To measure how much is left in my water bottle? You're fired. Get out of here. (Will departs hastily) Go into the washroom on your way out and see if any lawyers are hanging out in there.
WHITE PHONE: ...abriel. This about your last chance. Not everyone is privileged to know when that is.
UBU: I am not everyone. Get to it then..I have this pain!
RED PHONE: You are not seriously going to trust that guy!
UBU: Who put that on speaker? Just shut up. I'll deal with you later.
RED PHONE: We already have a deal! There's still plenty of time for your other stuff.
UBU: I am not sure if we have a deal anymore. Nothing in the contract says you can keep bugging me while I'm doing my business. I don't think I even signed it, so if you keep breaking the deal, as you call it, why should I even listen? Get lost "angel". I dealing with Numero Uno now.
WHITE PHONE: We can make a deal- to put it in terms you seem to understand.
UBU: Not another contract. Pricking my finger is very unsanitary, so unsanitary you wouldn't believe it. My minister of health could tell you stories...
WHITE PHONE: No contracts, no more oaths. Your blood is not required- or sufficient. Just salvation.
UBU: I don't think I like your tone. Are you insinuating I need saving...Hello, HELLO!
WHITE PHONE: Back again. Maybe you prefer the dial tone, but we are always here- while YOUR mortal time is running out.
UBU: Right. What's the deal? How can I move on into Heaven? Do I need to convert to some special religion, some cult? I'm not much of a follower.
WHITE PHONE: In your case, you have to accept extra time living to turn your life and some failings around. As you will see, this dispensation is just not for your sake, but for Earth as a whole. It is a narrow path and contracts with the Devil or any evildoer partner or blackmailer cannot touch you there.(RED PHONE vibrates violently)
UBU: (sweating) More time? I'll take it. I haven't signed anything but I don't like the sounds of this narrow path stuff.

PATRICK
(12,288 posts)WHITE PHONE: It is not too late. You are judged how you deal with others. A change is always welcome. There will be great rejoicing in Heaven...
UBU: You mean there hasn't been already...
WHITE PHONE: In your ongoing case, quite frankly, no. In fact on Earth, results, to put it politely- if not honestly- the reception, the results, are mixed at best. But we are not here to talk about the worst, but a turn toward the best.
UBU: The best deal ever.
WHITE PHONE: We mean two different things at this point. If you believe, we can come together.
UBU: Mutual respect.(Nods head rapidly)
WHITE PHONE: Let us just say we have a deal at this point?
UBU: Now, You're talking!...Uh Gabriel?
WHITE PHONE: Yes?
UBU: When do we start?
WHITE PHONE: Right now. Your heart is healed, otherwise the whole thing would be moot. We have a list of things to do and public addresses to make.
UBU: Not so fast! Have to test this new ticker out. Hello?...Hello? Jesus! did they just hang up?
ESTEBAN #3: Here are your new batches of regal commands, Sire.
UBU: Oh, well, if I must. Say, you don't look familiar. Recite the oath!
ESTEBAN#3: Ubu Roi, tu es la loi, L'Etat c'est moi, c'est ca je crois. I serve and I obey everyday, everyway. I obey-bey-bey-bey-be-e-e-ey...
UBU: OK, wonderful. You know I was just talking to His Satanic Majesty, really great guy. Plays a mean round of golf, of course. Wait...I am supposed to give these orders?
(White phone and red phone ring simultaneously. Ubu looks from one to the other, indecisive. Picks up red phone)
RED PHONE: This is to be expected. Glad to see you trying to forget about your lapse. Remember what happens to anyone breaking one of MY contracts!
UBU: Myfisto? I told you I don't like talking to subordinates, especially someone disrespecting me so far as to make threats. Let's remember who the King is around here. (picks up White Phone as Red gets too hot to handle.
UBU: Hello, G..Gabriel is it? I get it with this infernal damnation thing. They've been trying to get me under their thumb and spoil everything that's great. Let me sign this first order...I don't have to sign it in blood do I...Haha...uh yeah I thought that was funny too.
PRESS SECRETARY A BLONDEBOT: " BY ROYAL DECREE ALL SPENDING CUTS, ALL DEPORTATIONS AND FIRINGS WILL BE SUSPENDED AND REVERSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE_ except for that mean guy who talked bad about me after all the great things I let him do, no, not very nice at all- AND ALL ARMED FORCES AND FEDERAL AGENTS SHALL RETURN TO THEIR NORMAL POSTS AND DUTIES FORTHWITH.
UBU: You know I kind of enjoyed that. That part I added I thought was really good. Not often you get to add to perfection. They thought they knew who they were dealing with. That'll take the self-righteous smug look off their faces. All this and Heaven too! This is the best position to negotiate my future. Almost got taken in like a typical chump of Satan! This path doesn't look so narrow. Do you think I might even get an angelic host parade when I come marching in?
RED PHONE: rings violently
UBU: (laughs) That's right! Eat your heart out, loooo-ser! Ubu is going to be saved!
End of Act One
{The short play is in three acts. The second is the struggle for salvation. I know this is ominously close to offending just about everyone, but it is a comedy with the very very best of intentions for those who need it most. }
PATRICK
(12,288 posts)ACT TWO: Scene One- Mountain of Temptation
UBU: Let's see if I got this straight. Skip the Ten Commandments and start with the rewards instead. But the rewards are kinda woke. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, the mourning, the lowly, those who hunger for...hunger for...holiness." I mean, commandments certainly did nothing except try to tell me what not to do. Sort of insulting and it says here "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of slander against you because...". That certainly applies to me all over and they make up every fake reason so it might even be because I say I am a Christian. Catholics have cannon lawyers right? Maybe they can find me a piece of this blessed be action, although it sounds suspiciously woke to me.
GABRIEL: (Now in person, dressed as Virgil, the bard of Empire) It is hard- sometimes...very often...always?...impossible for people to get the Word of God straight. So yes, the Commandments in your case have not been particularly fruitful. You shouldn't even need much understanding to know dealing with the Devil is way off base. Because of your earthly father you were set upon a very dangerous spiritual path. In fact- not spiritual at all and not very successful for even being a simple mortal mammal. So let us look at what always remains in the end. It all boils down(sorry for the Hellish metaphor) to simply acting like God. Words just mess you up.
UBU: Jesus! I've done so much already! Well, that was the other contract. That's over now. If I can take my crypto currency into the afterlife- it's all digital you know, pretty spiritual- I could send it back down to Earth like blessings? How does that sound? (enter Mephistopheles panting)
MEPH: Another mountaintop! Are you going to show him all the Kingdoms and National Parks he has to trade off for his soul. Look! There's Greenland off to the North with just a few tribal Vikings to deport to Denmark! Come on, your fellow Emperor already has a chunk of Utopia to pillage. You'll never get Canada at this rate.
ESTEBAN#2: Listen to him, sire! Your agenda has much to do and there is yet time. Your legacy! Your fortune! Think of your children!
UBU: (Turns to Gabriel, squinting) They have a point.
GABRIEL: And a contract, whose time is running into inescapable payment. We offer you a free choice. First there is an invitation to help one single person, that might decide all. It is up to you.
ESTEBAN#2: Sure. Just bend the knee!
GABRIEL: Knees in Hell are all broken, however they are posed. You are only free to be in pain forever under a fake servitude, a fraudulent self-identity, free to be not you, not Me.
UBU: My head hurts. Can we get on with this?
Scene Two: Detention center of Gator Guantanamo
UBU: I've seen this before.
GABRIEL: But now we are here, in disguise as two guards. Here is a victim of your quota deportations, cut off from family and legal appeal, awaiting rendition to some fresh Hell on Earth where she is unlikely to survive certain to be harmed.
UBU: What's your name girl? Uh... hola?
MARG.: Margharita, sir. I do not speak Spanish. I was born in America, but for some reason I was grabbed by men in black masks, handled roughly and sent here, away from my parents and everyone. Can I have a glass of water?
UBU: I cant believe they did that to you. You must have done something wrong. You must be a terrible, terrible person!
MARG: Well, I am a terrible person now, because I am very angry. Everything they told me about freedom and rights and the law in America is a lie. If I survive, I will be avenged.
UBU: (Aside to Gabriel, who does not respond in any way) You see? I was right. This is why these people are so dangerous. We must protect ourselves from them at all costs. I figure eleven million is a fair number. Bound to be some mistakes, but you cannot take chances. Besides the number is everything. Part of the deal
.oh.
GABRIEL: Something wrong?
UBU: Yeah. This is a whole new deal. Christ, I sound like FDR! Well, small beginnings...Little girl?
MARG: Margharita. Well, what?
UBU: Everyone is coming back, you know. There will be a fair trial. I mean, for the ones with criminal records.
MARG: Ill believe that when I get back home to my parents. Then the fun starts!
UBU: (Waving hands defensively)No! Too many people have been hurt already. Its time to be nice. Be happy.
MARG: My pursuit of happiness means hounding Ubu to his grave!
GABRIEL: We have to be going. Were attracting too much attention.
MEPH Also dressed as a guard) Is that guard bothering you miss? Hes not to be trusted around young women. He has a rep AND a rap.
UBU angrily) Leave me alone! Why is everyone so mean to me? Cant I have at least one friend I can do good deeds for? You never liked me and I never trusted you, Myfisto...no matter how much fun we had.
MARG: Get me out of here and Ill do whatever you want!
UBU: Really? In that case...wait a minute. This is what you call a temptation, right? No, I just want to set one thing right and be a real friend. YOU are my ticket of escape. I get you out that way and youll do bad things, very bad things, so bad I cant help you. Then what will become of me? (Ubu pauses, contemplating his Homer Simpson logic)
MARG: Well, just say no and leave me to rot then? What are you scared of?
UBU: Me scared?(laugh turns shaky) Look, I will be the best friend you ever had. I am the bestest friend you ever had! All you have to do is like me. Uh, trust me. I deserve it.
MARG: Arent you the odd duck. What about you other two?
MEPH: I need an agent of change, Margharita. Work for me and Ill get you out of here. Youll get your revenge.
MARG: O.K. At least that makes sense.
GABRIEL: Despite new heart health his time is short. Look at the billions of stars- the very few one can see and think of the billions of years past and to come. A firefly consumed in a candle has as much significance as all Earthly Kings. All dead, if not forgotten now in less than a blink of cosmic time. The only small world of significance- and that only coming from God- is the single immortal soul. The only good free choice is to live for that.
UBU: Well, how does that happen? Do I really have a choice?
MEPH: None really. Freedom means the right to say no. Then you get screwed.
GABRIEL nods) Guaranteed choice, of course. Freedom given to others is the only thing a self can do to earn to live forever. Then there is only Mercy.
MEPH: Hey! We live forever in Hell too! We all get respect and we respect our Leader. No surrender. No regrets!
UBU: Is that a golf course over there?
GABRIEL: We'll get to that. Now do you mind if I banish Mephisto? He's consuming a lot of your last precious moments.
UBU: Yeah. He's been getting on my nerves with all his smart talk. And depressing. I should be feeling a lot better, but even this new ticker isn't cutting it. I wonder...(grabs crotch)
GABRIEL: (quick response) Just the heart and its a temporary dispensation.
UBU: I think I will do something to get saved. No, there's never been a convert like me. I've got to do something special. After all, I'm having a big change of heart.(laughs heartily) How about world peace? That would be a big deal.
GABRIEL: For that you have to get in the middle of a war. Understand it. Save people. Show them where you stand and stand everyone down until they come to their senses...but good luck. Youll need that more than a miracle.
ACT TWO: SCENE THREE
(Done as puppets- optional. Ubu and Gabriel are ambulance drivers in the Gaza strip, under fire)
UBU: Hey are we delivering hamburgers in Seattle?
The white get up looks really pure, but we sure stand out. Are those fireworks?
GABRIEL: We are volunteer ambulance drivers in Gaza and the artillery is welcoming us. They might be claiming they are giving us protective fire, but more likely think we are hiding enemy soldiers.
UBU: Get me out of here! I dont even watch the footage and I know damn well...(Loud explosion, ambulance blows up with limbs and heads scattered everywhere.)
This is real! My God, get us out of here!
GABRIEL: (Brushing off his shoulders) In a bit. How do you propose we make peace?
UBU: Peace? All they want to do is exterminate each other. All right let them, but they shouldnt be shooting at foreign aid workers. And they can forget about that casino. Look at all those craters! Nobody is going to fly in to stay at my motel in this graveyard. Why cant they just get along- or go away? Except to my country, obviously. Is that a childs hand.
GABRIEL: One of thirty-one. One child had already lost a hand previously.
UBU: Well, thank God it wasnt my fault. Uh, is there anyone left to patch up. Id like to start earning my wings. (Stoops over corpse and vomits). I think I soiled myself during the explosion. My ears are still ringing unless those are bells?
ESTEBAN#2: Hola! It is wonderful to see you alive
Sire! Your enemies have revolted in your absence. What members of our forces arent in hiding are searching for you too.
UBU: Too? Are they coming to my aid?
ESTEBAN#2: Well, no Sire...
{Paula Vogel in 2017 had an Ubu proposal of sorts to all dramatists, which technically I am not, although I wrote one college play and some cornball skits for a summer camp. One full parody of the Wizard of OZ which is buried in copyright prohibitions. I found this out AFTER I wrote this abomination combining Faust and Ubu. There is a bit of scene three left and then on quickly to Act Three which begins in the Vatican. Will Ubu be saved? Some drama there. It is all predetermined by the Muse. Forgive me!}
PATRICK
(12,288 posts)Some of them mine but not lately and the Third Act would have been added has I not accidentally DELETED my file! Rewriting makes it better I suppose. 888 would symbolize perfection. I have factored in Goethe with his highly unacceptable salvation by Gretchen and dissatisfaction with the "glamour of evil"- which he sampled profusely. But Ubu is already the servant of Satan, so in any contest with God he is steadfastly on the wrong side of the bar. He will ALWAYS have it his way, that is the trick where he tricked himself.
ACT THREE: Vatican City, Sistine Chapel