Bertolt Brecht’s satirical play The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is experiencing a renewed wave of stagings, bringing fresh scrutiny to its political allegories and complex staging choices. The play uses a Chicago gangster parable to mirror the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party in Weimar Germany, mapping historical figures directly onto criminal underworld counterparts.
The Political Allegory of Arturo Ui
Brecht’s play constructs a direct equivalence between the criminal takeover of Chicago’s cauliflower trade and the political collapse of the Weimar Republic. According to the text’s structural framework, Adolf Hitler is represented by Al Capone figure Arturo Ui, the NSDAP functions as his gangster syndicate, and SA leader Ernst Röhm is reframed as Ernesto Roma. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels appears as Giuseppe Givula, and Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß is depicted as the Chicago suburb ruler Ignatius Dullfeet. This alignment stems from an orthodox Marxist perspective that historically framed Nationalsozialismus primarily as a tool and manifestation of capitalist power.
Staging Challenges and Contemporary Adaptations
Recent theatrical productions grapple heavily with Brecht’s intricate and occasionally convoluted dramaturgical structure. In St. Pölten, a newly mounted production commissioned by eleven different directors utilizes a stark wooden stage backdrop adorned with Austrian flags and a prominent, realistic crucifix. This visual design intersects with surreal narrative choices, such as the resurrection of the Roma character wearing a crown of thorns following his assassination.
Director Lars-Ole Walburg, overseeing the production’s third scene from Rostock, introduces further stylistic departures by having the character Dogsborough—who corresponds to German Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg—perform Konstantin Wecker’s Austrian song “Willy” in a heavy Viennese dialect. Rather than leaning purely into traditional interpretations of Capone or Hitler, actors Bettina Kerl and Max Kurth portray Arturo Ui through a more narcissistic lens reminiscent of David Bowie’s historical flirtations with alternative aesthetic styling.
Musical Elements and Audience Reception
Musical interludes draw heavily from Brecht’s broader theatrical catalog, notably incorporating the “Song of the Trader” from The Measures Taken (Die Maßnahme). Actress Emma Bahlmann performs this piece in a sharp Lotte Lenya-esque timbre while dressed in classic gangster-style plaid suits alongside fellow cast members. While the production program notes draw explicit parallels between the play’s themes and modern political parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), actual stage dialogue minimizes direct contemporary references, featuring only isolated original political quotes delivered from the auditorium’s lower boxes.
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