What Is The Theme Of The Incredible Rise Of Arturo Ui

Epic theatre is a very interesting style of theatre in which the main incentive is to provoke thought and discussion on current issues rather than to just merely entertain the audience. In the play, The Resistible Rise of Arturo by Bertolt Brecht, the overall theme of political corruption is very prominent. Not only was the story compelling, but so were the many different production aspects that came together to create the show. By combining all of the production elements together, the show was brought to another level with the lighting, sound, scenery, and costumes. The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is a play about the notorious Chicago gangster, Arturo Ui, and his rise to power in the grocery scene. Starting from being a lowly gangster with
little sway with anyone anymore, Arturo Ui works his way up the grocery ladder by using threats, violence, and blackmail. While this may seem a little strange, the whole play is really an allusion to Hitler’s rise of power in Germany and Europe. Staying true to the intent of epic theatre, the play invites the audience to take a look at the current political climate and observe the frightening similarities between the fictional world of Arturo Ui and the current world situations. Luckily enough, I was able to participate in all of the required labs for class early on so I had a part in each of the different production elements for this show.
I was very impressed with the entire lighting concept of the show and how lighting really can truly impact the tone or mood of a scene. I did my lab hours for lighting during the hang weekend for Arturo Ui and I did not understand how many of the lights would be used, nor did I understand how lighting could be so specific for one scene. Finally seeing the show with the lights in action put into perspective how much lighting impacts the scene; for example, the lighting for the scene sixteen, the funeral of Ignatius Dullfeet, not only provides a grim overtone, but also a somber mood with the ample amount of blue and purple gels used. This scene had a stark contrast in mood compared to many of the other scenes in the show and the lighting was the biggest reason why, displaying the importance of
lighting.
I also really appreciated the overall sound quality and effect it had on the different scenes. I am not particularly used to noticing the sound in a play in general, but in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, non-diegetic sound is a prominent element of the production and is used to specifically emphasize certain moments in the play. In the play, a deep thump sound effect was often used after certain lines to emphasize the threatening overtone the lines actually carried. For example, when Arturo Ui goes to Dogsborough asking for his help and influence, Ui claims that the only person that can help Dogsborough is himself (Ui). This line is followed by one of the deep thump sound effects which illustrated the hole that Dogsborough had dug himself in and the actual weight that Ui’s words have on him.
Moreover, the scenery of the play was quite simple due to the fact that that is a common element in epic theatre itself in order to create less of a spectacle and have more focus on the story.
The simple scenery worked for the most part in portraying the original intentions of the play, but the projections onto the screens were a bit distracting. The projections took me out of the play because of how hard they were to read, especially the projection onto the screens that were used for a background of Dogsborough’s country home. Other than the projections, the scenery was quite nice and seemed like it could be considered to be part of the original playwright’s concept and idea of epic
theatre.
Furthermore, the costumes also had interesting aspects of it that were fun to pay attention to. Many of the characters costumes had subtle differences from the beginning of the play to the end of play, most notably, Arturo Ui. In the beginning of the play, Arturo Ui seemed to appear truer to his “simple son of Brooklyn” image with casual clothes, messier hair, and an unkempt moustache. As the play continued and Ui’s power and influence over the vegetable trade grew, so did the similarities in Adolf Hitler also appear in Ui’s costume. In particular, Ui had different moustaches throughout the show and by the end of the show, his moustache was identical to the infamous and iconic moustache that Hitler had, emphasizing the connection between Arturo Ui and Adolf Hitler. While costumes do carry aesthetic elements, costumes also carry an important role in displaying important information about a character.
Ultimately, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui was a beautiful and impactful play, mostly due to the different production elements combining to help tell the story. Most of the production elements that were noticed were used to emphasize certain pieces of the play that would, otherwise, be easily forgotten among the intense script. All in all, epic theatre is often a type of theatre that most people shy away from, but the University Theatre production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui was able to approach it all-out by using the different production elements to emphasize important details which lets the audience invest it in the show all the more.