Caryl Churchill’s play Far Away and Jane Taylor’s Ubu and the Truth Com

Caryl Churchill’s play Far Away and Jane Taylor’s Ubu and the Truth Commission Caryl Churchill’s play Far Away and Jane Taylor’s Ubu and the Truth Commission are two plays that both concern violent, corrupt political systems, but each playwright goes about confronting these issues in a quite different style. Jane Taylor structures her work with an omniscient perspective that allows the audience to see the reality of what is happening at all times, while Churchill utilizes a limited perspective that leaves the audience as unaware of the truth as her characters. These approaches result in two plays that are very different in character, but at the same time, both of the works successfully create a similar uneasy, frightening atmosphere that is effective in impressing upon the audience the dangers and injustices of such violent governments Ubu, the main character of Ubu and the Truth Commission, is a corrupt dictator faced with the ramifications of the cruel and violent actions of his government. Throughout the play he grapples with truth; during the course of the action he hesitates about telling the truth about his involvement in the affairs, tries to cover up the evidence, and ultimately gives false testimony, claiming innocence. In the end his dishonesty prevails, and the truth commission fails. The political head and the military leader head of Brutus escape punishment while the army head is done away with, and Ubu himself is let off his charges. The final scene closes on Ubu, his wife, and Niles, the crocodile representing the rich white population, sailing away free directly in the face of an eye symbolizing truth. Despite the failure of truth in this play, the facts are not hidden from the audience – Taylor lea... ...hes its purpose in a different manner. Taylor’s blunt symbolism displays the truth openly to the audience in order to place emphasis on the injustice of the outcome of such government. The bitter irony and sinister characters combined with the horrifying tales of the witness puppets create a truly uneasy atmosphere that serves her purpose well. In contrast to this omniscient viewpoint, Churchill produces a world in which the truth is hidden from the audience as well as the characters. This choice puts the audience in a position of great anxiety as well and just as effectively communicates the potential dangers of such an environment. Both Caryl Churchill and Jane Taylor explore the horrors of corrupt government with dramatically different methods, but both successfully construct worlds that force the audience to deal with these issues involving truth and corruption.