Cheek By Jowl’s hit 2013 production of Ubu Roi, a satire of greed and power, makes a triumphant return to The Barbican.

Alfred Jarry’s drama, banned when it was first performed in 1896, tells the story of horrendous despot Ubu who has taken control of a kingdom with the help of his equally nefarious wife. But now his dictatorship is threatened by the arrival of an invading army.

Cheek By Jowl, led by director Declan Donnellan, sets the action at a chic dinner party at which the veneer of respectability swiftly dissipates into brutality and grotesqueness.

Ubu Roi is performed in French with English surtitles and is suitable for theatregoers aged 16 and older.