SOUTHBURY - On a recent rainy and windy afternoon, the atmosphere inside the auditorium at Pomperaug High School - and its nearby Black Box Theatre - was filled with laughter, low conversations, and student actors running their lines. The latter group repeated those lines under the direction of Paul E. Doniger, who has been an English teacher and the artistic director of the regional high school's drama department for the past 11 years.Ubu The Conqueror, a play written and directed by Mr Doniger. Loosely based on characters from the late 19th Century plays by Alfred Jarry, Mr Doniger has taken Jarry's less-than-brilliant title character, along with Ubu's ambitious wife and some of the legendary character's followers, and put them into a setting 1,000 years into the future.Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Measure for Measure, and The Revenger's Tragedy, among others.The Tempest, or either of the productions (The Merchant of Venice, Of Mice & Men) he has done with the Connecticut-based Working Actors Collective, of which he has been a member since 2011.Ubu The Conqueror provided by Mr Doniger, Ubu (being played by Cameron Slater), has just been elected President of the Western Hemisphere. With the assistance of his wife, First Lady Ubu (Kathleen Stango), his loyal entourage (Lauren Stango, Samantha Torino, Jess Penzetta, and Jacob Rogotzke) and the brilliant Professor Unwitan (Marissa Proulx), Ubu decides to take over the rest of the world. The only trouble is that his conscience (Abbey Dwight) keeps trying to stop him.Little Women," he said. "That thing is world renowned. It's well known."Little Women, it was like 'If I get in, people are going to look at me and recognize the character,'" said Cameron, who played Theodore "Laurie" Laurence in the spring 2015 Pomperaug High School production. "With this one, when I go and stand in front of that crowd of people, they're initially going to be like 'Yeah, well, he's Ubu… and that's who?'"Ubu Roi, or Ubu The King, was followed by Ubu Cocu (Ubu Cuckolded) and Ubu Enchaîné (Ubu in Chains) - into one work, but that idea gained "little interest," he said.Ubu The Conqueror marks the third time the Newtown resident will be directing one of his own plays at Pomperaug High School. In 2007, Mr Doniger directed at PHS the debut of Masks, and then a year or two later the school's drama department presented Cassandra, based on Greek mythology. While those two original works were presented in the school's smaller Black Box Theater, Ubu The Conqueror is the first Doniger work being done on the full auditorium stage.Performances will be in the auditorium at Pomperaug High School, 12 Judd Road, May 6-8. Curtain will be 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday, and at 2:30 pm Mothers' Day Sunday.Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and senior citizens, and they can be reserved in advance or purchased at the door.Call 203-262-3247 or e-mail pdoniger@region15.org for questions or to make reservations.

The students who stayed after school that Friday afternoon were in rehearsals for

The Newtown resident is extremely familiar with the workings of stage productions, having been involved in theater for more than four decades. A founding member of the award-winning off-Broadway CSC Repertory Theatre in New York City, he has appeared that company's productions of

Among many other projects, local theatergoers may also recognize him from the July 2008 Town Players of Newtown production of

According to a synopsis of

"It relates the clumsy attempts at world dominance by the much-less-than-brilliant title character, his ambitious wife, and a very loyal group of sketchy followers," according to Mr Doniger.

Cameron Slater was among those sitting in the auditorium during the April 8 rehearsal.

"My understanding of Ubu is that he's an idiotic guy who seems like he got lucky with a lot of smart people around him," said the PHS senior. "They basically facilitate him taking over the whole world.

"The world is now some dystopian society, where it's been cut into three or four different regions," he continued. "Two other leaders hate Ubu, but Ubu outsmarts them somehow, even though he's supposed to be stupid."

After a moment, Cameron rethinks his initial description.

"I wouldn't call him a total idiot," he said. "He's kind of like the guy who's really out there. He's arrogant, and even somewhat disgusting.

"He's one of those people who thinks 'I'm perfect, everyone else needs to change,'" he added.

Cameron admitted he wasn't exactly bursting at the seams at the initial introduction of this year's spring production.

"My previous play was

The young actor liked that the production had recognized characters. Being in a brand-new work came with mixed emotions.

"With

The cast and crew is not worried about those who may not be familiar with Jarry's works, however.

"You see this kind of story often," Cameron offered. "But it's really interesting, the way he set it up," he said of Mr Doniger's foreshadowing and other writing techniques.

"It's a funny play. It's entertaining," he said, while on the stage senior Savannah Moore, junior Abbey Dwight, and sophomore Justin Callanan tried to find comfortable footing and timing in a scene. And ask for their lines. A few times, between moments of laughter and sincerity.

At a desk near the edge of the stage sat Paul Doniger and his assistant director, senior Emily Pearson.

Having been on the director and actor sides of numerous plays himself, Mr Doniger gave the students space to find their way through the scene. He offered direction gently.

"He's only ever been supportive and motivational," said Cameron, who has been in six plays directed by Mr Doniger. "He doesn't micromanage."

Stage Manager Elizabeth Styblo, a junior at Pomperaug, has similar views of the artistic director.

"He is a great teacher and I fell really lucky to have the opportunity to work with him," she said. "He really cares about his students and gives them lots of room to grow and evolve. He lets his students take the lead on problem solving and creating, while still providing instruction and encouragement.

"And," she added, "Mr Doniger always has a Shakespeare quote ready to provide inspiration."

Once the actors were finished for the afternoon, Mr Doniger checked in on crew members who were working on set pieces.

Then the playwright was able to talk about Ubu and the timelessness of one of the play's themes.

"I've always been fascinated with the insanity of the Ubu plays," he said. He had an idea a few years ago, he said, to consolidate Jarry's three plays -

Instead, he decided to create a new adventure for the king. It was more than a year ago, he said, that he got the idea of taking the characters and writing them into a new world.

"I feel like we are in a culture that has lost faith in politics," Mr Doniger said. "These characters kind of reflect our reasoning for that. I wanted to expand on the idea, and play with the idea, and see where it took me."

He kept the character of the Conscience, which appeared in Jarry's play but has been expanded in this new work.

"I also expanded on the mob scenes, and keep the fickleness of mobs, which is an old concept in theater," he said. "I also wanted to show challenges faced by the electorate, as well as to hold on to an ongoing challenge for all cultures: the idea that people change allegiances very quickly, very easily."

New characters include those who were in rehearsals a few weeks ago: Po-Ling Vladimirov, who is the prime minister of Eurasia; and her son, Jean-Jacques Vladimirov.

"The names I developed for the characters are designed to reflect the mixed nationalities suggested by the uniting of continents in the futuristic setting," Mr Doniger mentions.

"The kids trust me, and they're pretty loyal," he said of staging the unknown works. "The kids in this district are really smart. I didn't have to sell this."

Elizabeth Styblo called the work "innovative" when asked about the play, and the idea of being part of a world premiere.

"I have never read anything quite like it," she said. "The actors at Pomperaug are so talented and are going to make it so much fun to watch."

The stage manager said she and the other students were "very excited to create something from scratch."

"Because this show has never been performed before we had nothing to base the set and costumes off of," she said this week. "We had to create everything the audience will see from our own imaginations. It has been a very fun process.

"The costumes are beautiful and innovative and not what you usually see on a high school stage," she continued. PHS senior Sophie Stanko is in charge of this production's costumes, and set design and construction is the responsibility of junior Lea Claflin.

"The set is so different and fun," Elizabeth added. "It will even feature an amazing 10-foot-tall globe right in the center of the stage."

While April 8 marked the final rehearsal before Region 15 students and staff had spring break, rehearsals resumed this week. The cast and crew now have less than three weeks before opening night.

"Rehearsals are going well," Mr Doniger said. Spring break was going to create a hiccup, coming in the midst of rehearsals, but the playwright and director was not terribly concerned. "We'll be ready for this."