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The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Norris)

Full-Length Play

Bertolt Brecht, Bruce Norris

Brecht's satirical masterpiece about the rise of a demagogue has been adapted by Pulitzer, Olivier and Tony award-winning American playwright Bruce Norris.

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Norris)

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Summary

Chicago. A city of jazz and gangsters, prohibition and poverty. Amongst the murk of the Great Depression, there's room for a small time crook like Arturo Ui to make a name for himself.

Ui and his henchmen just want to look after you, to offer protection for workers, for jobs, for businesses. Nothing to fear. But a little bribery here, some harmless corruption there, and soon something much more dangerous takes hold.

Brecht's satirical masterpiece about the rise of a demagogue has been adapted by Pulitzer, Olivier and Tony award-winning American playwright Bruce Norris.

History

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui opened on 21 April 2017 at the Donmar Warehouse, London, starring Lenny Henry.

ANNOUNCER

Men of the Chicago Cauliflower Trust:

CLARK

CARUTHER

BUTCHER

FLAKE

SHEET – A shipyard owner

DOGSBOROUGH – A shipyard owner

YOUNG DOGSBOROUGH – His son

ERNESTO ROMA – Ui's first lieutenant

ARTURO UI – Mob chieftain

TED RAGG – A reporter

DOCKDAISY

EMANUELE GIRI – Gangster, aka ‘Manny the Jester’

BOWL – Shipyard accountant

BUTLER – Employed by Dogsborough

O'CASEY – Chairman, Investigation Committee

GIUSEPPE GIVOLA – Florist, gangster, aka ‘Joey Flowers’

BODYGUARD

ACTOR – A washed-up thespian

HOOK – A grocery warehouse owner

JUDGE

DEFENDENT

PUBLIC DEFENDER

PROSECUTOR

BETTY DULLFEET – A businessman from Cicero

INNA – A young gangster recruit

GUNMAN

SHORT GUNMAN

IGNATIUS DULLFEET – Husband of Betty Dullfeet, a journalist

GROCERS – of Chicago and Cicero

Media

“Dazzling” – British Theatre Guide

“There’s never a dull moment.” – Daily Telegraph

“Brecht’s anti-fascist study of political power hits home in a tremendous new adaptation by Bruce Norris.” – The Guardian

Licensing & Materials

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Authors

Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), playwright, poet and director, was born in Augsburg, Germany in February 1898. He established himself as a playwright during the 1920s and early 1930s with plays such as Baal, Man is Man, The Threepenny Opera and The Mother. In 1933, as Hitler came ...
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