In a play titled for one of these people, the protagonist is credited with inventing the tractor, setting the Thames on fire, and writing all of Shakespeare’s plays. In another play titled for one of these people, the protagonist cries in agony after he thinks he is shot by a cannonball, and then literally tears apart a captain who says it was just a cap pistol. In a play, one of these people is told, “You’re going to die at the end of the show,” by one of his two wives, Marguerite and Marie. A person with this role has a protruding belly depicting a spiral in a play later staged using puppets. The nonsense word “merdre (“MAIR-druh”)” opens a play titled for one of these people who reneges on a promise to make Bordure (“bord-YOOR”) the Duke of Lithuania after they kill Wenceslas. For 10 points, what title is taken by the hero of Alfred Jarry’s first play about Ubu? ■END■
ANSWER: kings [or rois; accept Exit the King or Le Roi se meurt (by Eugène Ionesco); accept Ubu Roi or King Ubu]
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= Average correct buzz position