Theatre UCF issues anti-fascist warning in ‘Resistible Rise’
Bertolt Brecht wrote “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui” during World War II with Americans in mind, but it was not produced in English until 1961. It has lived on, though, and Theatre UCF is now staging the anti-fascism play, a parable of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany.
Director Christopher Niess has framed the play — written in the style of a classic Chicago gangster film — with the idea of making an actual movie.
“Every movie’s a circus,” proclaims a song in the moviemaking musical “Sunset Boulevard,” and that idea carries through this production — where the audience sees the hustle and bustle of a movie set during Hollywood’s Golden Age. We watch a boom mic held over the actors, observe the smoke breaks and between-scenes chitchat of the performers and stage crew, and hear the soundstage bell indicating a take has been captured.
Audrey Casteris has created a nifty and versatile set for the concept, which is bolstered by Stevie Bleich’s dramatic lighting and Tim Brown’s projections, adding energy with their celluloid-like flickering.
Overall, the movie idea is entertaining, even if it makes things a bit busy at times — though by the end of the second act, when the clapperboard operator announces “Rolling!” for the umpteenth time, one feels as though the point has been adequately made.
But beating the audience over the head is part of Brecht’s game in “Resistible Rise,” translated here by Jennifer Wise.
The characters have direct equivalents in real life — Ui is a stand-in for Hitler, others are his associates and underlings such as Goering, Goebbels, etc. And the crux of the plot, Ui’s determination to annex a neighboring town into his grocery-store protection racket is, of course, the counterpart to Germany’s successful annexation of Austria into Hitler’s Reich.
Yes, you read that correctly: Grocery-store protection racket.
In Brecht’s story, Ui is a lowlife gangster who becomes involved with the Cauliflower Trust (really!) and a series of political machinations that help him consolidate his power.
As seen at the final dress rehearsal, Forrest Stringfellow craftily moves Ui from comical to an object of fear as the plot progresses. He gets capable support, especially from Dominique Marshall as the Goring stand-in with a quintessential henchman’s laugh and Colby Bell, who amusingly has the familiar squeaky “youse guys” type accent of movie gangsters down pat.
The funniest scene has Christian Polastry as a classically trained actor teaching Ui to be more charismatic in posture and walk — until you realize what the walk is evolving into.
Among all the accents and vegetable references and moviemaking frills, the production succeeds in providing quieter moments to think about what Brecht is saying.
For one, how appearances can trick a populace, facts notwithstanding. Of one character, it’s said, “He’s honest but more important he’s perceived as honest.”
Another salient point, also relevant in today’s world: Those seeking power are liable to create problems, either real or imaginary, in order to be seen as rescuers. Ui’s protection business is only needed by the play’s grocers because Ui is the one endangering them.
Perhaps the biggest lesson: Throughout the play, you may marvel why almost no one is brave enough to stand up to Ui and stop him before it’s too late.
“The ooze that spawned him is as rich as ever,” the audience is warned at play’s end. But will we do anything about it?
‘THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI’ Length: 2:40, including intermission
Where: Theatre UCF at the university’s east Orange campus at 4000 Central Florida Blvd. in Orlando When: Through Feb. 12 Cost: $25 ($10 with UCF ID) Info: arts.cah.ucf.edu