The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui
by Bertolt Brecht. Directed by Kip Williams.
Set design by Robert Cousins. Costume Design Marg Horwell. Lighting
design. Nick Schlieper. Composer and Sound designer. Stefan Gregory. Cinematographer.
Justine Kerrigan. Fight director. Nigel Poulton. Assistant Director Alastair
Clark. Voice and text coach. Charmian Gradwell. Ros Packer Theatre. March 27 –
April 28 2018.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Hugo Weaving as Arturo Ui in THe Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui. Photo: Daniel Boud |
As we witness the outcomes of a
Royal Commission into Banking and the Financial Services and the appalling
malpractice and fraudulent corruption that it exposes, a play depicting graft
and corruption in the Chicago fruit market trade may appear somewhat trivial by
comparison. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bertolt Brecht’s veiled
1941 parabel of the rise of Hitler in
Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The
Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui is a chillingly timely and prophetic
condemnation of the political, social and economic systems that permeate a
corrupt and opportunistic society.
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| The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui. Photo: Daniel Noud |
Kip Williams’ vision of the rise of a psychopathic narcissist
is unrelenting in its menacing momentum. Video cameras simultaneously capture
the stage action on film, projecting close-ups onto a large screen, so that we
are overwhelmed by enlarged visions of true motivation. We see Cabinet Minister Doughborough’s
struggle to resist bribery, until persuaded to succumb in order to help his
disabled son, a capitulation that will set him on the slippery slope to
dishonourable obligation. Veteran actor, Peter Carroll strikes a tragic figure
as an honourable and honest man, destroyed by the malevolent and persuasive
power of the manipulative Fruit Market Syndicate.
But it is Hugo Weaving’s Arturo
Ui that presents the most chilling lesson to us all of the ever present threat
of megalomaniacal ambitions. Weaving is superb in the role of Brecht’s
villainous paragon of evil. Ui rises from humble, unknown beginnings to weasel his
way into the city’s fruit market enterprise through an insidiously contrived
pathway of ingratiation, convincing persuasion, plausible protection and
ultimately ruthless terror. Although originally set in Chicago, Williams’s
setting could very easily apply to the fruit market industry of any Australian
capital city. After all the precedent of corruption, grafting and terrorism has
not gone unnoticed in Australian fruit markets during the last century. Brecht’s
play is applicable to any corrupt enterprise and only a matter of days after
seeing the production, I heard of Ron Medich’s conviction for the murder of
fellow developer, Malcolm McGirr after arranging for one of his associates to
murder McGirr in front of his 9 year old son. In Arturo Ui, it is Ui’s psychopathic
offsider, Ernesto Roma (Colin Moody), who commits the murders, only to
eventually fall foul of his leader and suffer an appropriate fate .
Murder most foul is the name of
the game, and director,Williams spares nothing to portray the violence
graphically on stage and screen. What plays before our eyes is a Shakespearian
drama of mammoth proportions and Tom Wright’s translation in part owes
allegiance to Shakespearian masterpieces. There is a brilliant scene in which
Ui learns the actor’s art froma theatre
director, played with eccentric flamboyance and intensity by Mitchell Butel. It
is not accidental that Ui should deliver a rousing rendition of Marc Antony’s
speech over the body of Julius Caesar from Shakespeare’s Roman play. Nor is it
inescapable that Ui’s sly wooing of Betty Dullfleet (Anita Hegh) over the body
of her slain husband, the newspaper editor Ignatius Dullfleet (Tony Cogin)
should bear resemblance to Richard lll’s unlikely wooing of the widow Anne over
the coffin of the husband that Richard had murdered.
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| Hugo Weaving as Arturo Ui and Peter Carroll as Dogsborough Photo by Daniel Boud |
Observance of Brecht’s Alienation Effect, designed to prevent us from
cathartic capitulation while heightening our judgement is reverently observed
by Williams. Actors are seen warming up, chatting, fiddling with costuming and
generally strolling about the stage as the audience enters. The plot for each
scene is projected, so that we are not seduced by the story, but able to see
how characters interact and the consequence of their behaviour. Close-ups on
the screen illuminate attitude and motive and each scene clearly represents Ui’s
inevitable rise to power. It is a frightening vision of humanity’s inescapable powerlessness
in the face of resolute evil.
What we are witness to is a
powerfully staged prophesy. Weaving is monumental in the leading tole, but this
in no way detracts from the evenness of a talented and unified ensemble.
Although didactic in its mission, Brecht always claimed that his theatre should
first and foremost entertain. Secondly it should instruct and elicit judgement
and action. The Sydney Theatre Company production is gripping and frightening theatre.
Seen in the context of Hitler’s outrageous atrocities and tyrannous evil, this
production may not make our blood run cold, but it will remind us , as
Dogsborough suggests in the closing epilogue, that history will repeat itself and
reminds us all that the dog of war is still a bitch on heat.
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| The cast of The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui. Photo; Daniel Boud |
The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui
will close at the Sydney Theatre Company’s Ros Packer Theatre on April 28th,
and I suspect that the final performances will already be sold out, but if you
are able to get to Sydney to see this excellent production of Brecht’s
prophetic warning, and there is a seat to be honourably obtained, it will be a
purchase you won’t regret.
