The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

 

"In 18 scenes, the title character goes from a down on his luck petty gangster to a self-indulgent mafioso Don--a perverse composite of Al Capone, Adolf Hitler, and Richard III--through a reign of violence and terror. A riveting meditation on media propaganda, celebrity worship, and society."

nytheatre.com review
by Martin Denton · August 16, 2002

With their riveting revival of Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Fovea Floods theatre company once again reminds us what theatre is for. Led by director Josh Chambers, they've crafted a production that amplifies and illuminates the themes of this cautionary tale inspired by the rise to power of Adolph Hitler; they've also found ways to make the piece timely and resonant in the era of Osama bin-Laden and George W. Bush. Most impressively, they've created an engulfing theatre experience that constantly engages and challenges its audience, using devices and iconography familiar and strange to pull us into the savage, off-kilter world of Brecht's gangsters and thugs, making us complicit in and responsible for what happens in this (our) world in a palpable way. This is absolutely must-see theatre.

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, written during the '40s but not produced until 1958, tells the story of a gangster who rises to power in the Chicago grocery protection racket through intimidation and brute force. Arturo is a rough, uneducated country boy from Brooklyn (Brecht's knowledge of American geography was always sketchy). When he finds out that the seemingly incorruptible scion of the Chicago business community Dogsborough has in fact been corrupted, he blackmails and bullies Dogsborough into making him his lieutenant-cum-heir apparent. When scandal and murder conspire to bring Dogsborough down (engineered, of course, by Arturo and his men), Ui takes command and commences a brutal reign of terror over the city's grocers. As the play ends, Ui has completed his own anschluss and taken over the neighboring town of Cicero as well.

The parallels between this story and Hitler's are blatant and overt, and Chambers emphasizes them in this production, with actors providing a sort of running commentary on the rise of the Third Reich on video monitors surrounding the playing area. At the same time, images and lines throughout conjure more contemporary allusions: Chambers, true to Brecht's intentions, I think, wants to make sure we remember that brutish demagogues like Ui and Hitler can spring up anywhere and anytime if we're not careful. The word Resistible in the play's title is key here: the moments when good men (and women) might have paused to halt the rise of Ui and his thugs are clearly delineated.

As it is, in the play and too often in life, the gangsters and the businessmen are indistinguishable from one another. Chambers captures Brecht's Marxist perspective beautifully in several scenes that pin responsibility for Arturo rather squarely on the capitalists. Somehow, even nowadays, with communist regimes a memory, the ideas ring true.

Ui is staged with energy and diligent high-concept by Chambers. Virtually every one of the play's scenes relies on a different theatrical device or artifice for its style, with, for example, the opening an exquisitely choreographed gangster ballet and the climactic second act trial scene a circus-like series of blackouts. The effect of this choice is to sharpen our wits: the constant barrage of new ideas keeps us on our toes and listening and watching ever more carefully. It's all interesting and all beautifully executed by a cast of 22 remarkable actors. In places, the sense of foreboding and menace is spectacularly potent—Sam Mendes' Cabaret can only wish to cast such a spell on its audience.

Ui himself is portrayed by Jon Bernthal, who wisely eschews imitation of either Hitler or any other obvious archetype from Corleone to Soprano. He is, instead, a brooding everyman—which is much scarier. When we witness his transformation from second-rate hoodlum to masterful gangland leader, aided by a hammy old thespian (brilliantly played by Robert Lehrer), his acquisition of the surface trappings of power is quite horrifying. He transmutes Lehrer's stagy promenading into something just shy of a goosestep; when he addresses the crowd, his arms lock unnaturally at his sides, as if from the elbows down they belong to somebody else.

Ui's key lieutenants are played with equal mastery. Timothy Fannon is loyal henchman Ernesto Roma, wrongheadedly building up his guy with the pathetic fervor of Burgess Meredith in a Rocky sequel. Sandro Isaack delivers a chillingly smooth, physical performance as ruthless underling Emanuel Giri. David Gravens is similarly nasty as Givola, whose flower shop offers cover to Ui and the gang. Other standouts in this excellent company include Chris Weilding as a convenient baritone; Justin Fayne as Ted, the omnipresent and possibly omnipotent news announcer who narrates the play; and Jane Pickett, memorable in a brief scene as an enemy of Ui whom we meet, bloody and battered, right after she "rolls off a truck."

Theatre seldom is as involving or visceral as Fovea Floods manage to make it: their Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is the most electrifying, exhilarating show in town bar none right now. If you care about theatre—if you care about the world you live in—this is a play you do not want to miss.