Directed by Gregory Jones

Brecht wrote The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui in 1941, long before the world knew that Hitler could be successfully resisted. It is a play not so much about the rise of Adolf Hitler, but about those who could have resisted Hitler, but didn't. Like the Chaplin film The Great Dictator, Brecht uses parody to highlight the absurdities, and thus underline the cruelties, of Hitler and the Third Reich, most notably by setting Ui's rise to power in Chicago as a small time gangster hell-bent on taking over the city's grocery business.

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While the play is strongly rooted in the 1930's, it has become painfully obvious that history does indeed repeat it's self, and Ui is both tragedy and farce. For this reason, we chose not to create a facsimile of Gangster Chicago, but rather a malleable space, rooted in Brecht's open and avowed disgust at 'the house painter', with painters drop-sheets and industrial sized buckets of paint, all kept intentionally monochromatic. The placards that explain the historical context to each scene are crudely painted, and inspired by the style of Stephen Sprouse. Even the faces of the cast were painted, Ui's mustache, a lost smear of paint. To enliven, and add a touch of macabre whimsy, we added a bath tub, at once evoking thoughts of the French philosopher Marat, and Queen Tomyris.

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In keeping with Brecht's theories and Epic Theatre style we used placards, projection, breaking the fourth wall etc., non-realistic set and actors getting into character on stage, as well as crew doing sound and lighting checks, and taping down the drop sheets.

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Lighting Design: Tess Reuvers