Director Seán Linnen shared with The Ecologist the central challenge: “how do we make [the play] alive and dangerous and pertinent for now?”
Mark Gatiss brings an oily charm to the role of Ui, scheming from his bathtub, surrounded by a troupe of clownish, gyrating followers.
Standout performances include LJ Parkinson’s Givola and Mahwaan Rizwan’s smiling Giri, with Kadiff Kirwan adding menace and Janie Dee portraying despair with sincerity.
A production of this carnival-like nature risks losing thematic depth in favor of mere entertainment.
Ridiculous
However, this staging skillfully knows when to break the frivolity, particularly highlighted by Amanda Wilkin’s performance. It reminds us that as we applaud on cue, revel in the chaos, and remain silent as audience members, we inadvertently play into Ui’s hands.
Violence gains legitimacy through spectacle, making acts like blowing up a building more acceptable when we marvel at the colors of the falling embers.
“At the beginning of the play we get everyone to applaud,” Linnen described.
“We introduce all the characters, and they come out, and everyone claps for each one—even though they are based on Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, and Ernst Rohm, some of history’s most horrific figures.
“Yet, the audience just claps.” Applause, although it may seem trivial, holds power. Indeed: “That’s when it becomes much more dangerous.”
Henchmen
Gatiss manages to avoid a caricatured portrayal akin to Trump, even though today’s context tempts such comparisons with Brecht’s foresight.
A fascist-corporate conspiracy on America’s East Coast? Quite strange indeed.
Linnen noted: “We’ve been careful not to make it solely about Trump because Arturo represents many figures across the globe.
“It’s a strategy repeatedly seen worldwide—because it works.”
The play briefly touches on contemporary themes by casting the henchmen as ICE agents—a choice that arguably detracts from the play’s structural ambitions. Perhaps it was best left as a workshop experiment, despite its timely comparison between modern agents and past thugs.
Washed-up
“All politics is theatrical,” Linnen remarked, highlighting the connection between theatre and democracy rooted in Ancient Greece.
“The agreement was that one would attend theatre to learn about lives they don’t know, aiding in making informed voting decisions.”
He further explained, “the play explores the theatricality of crafting a politician and a monster.
“There’s a scene where Ui consults a washed-up actor to learn how to speak, walk, and sit. That really happened—Hitler did that.”
Vengeance
Reflecting on these points, one might question the imagined role of the public, whether in ancient Athens or at a rally. There is a distinction between theatre and theatricality.
The script notably downplays the ideological foundations of fascism, focusing instead on the business alliances fueled by money and raw power.
This decision enhances Brechtian alienation and challenges the sincerity of fascist propaganda, preventing viewers from equating it with typical belief systems.
Such an approach avoids the mistake of the play’s Hindenburg stand-in: trivializing fascism or, worse, welcoming it as an ally.
Reject any tyrant’s promises of renewal, dignity, and vengeance, and instead recognize the threats they pose.
Discomfort
The ideology of force is seen in its brutal application and the threat it poses.
Yet, the absence of a distinct ideology diminishes the impact of Ui’s political theatre. The script doesn’t differentiate between those coerced into supporting the Nazis and those who did so willingly, dreaming of the fatherland.
Why perform unless you have a defined role for your audience? What are you selling them? What keeps them coming back?
This thematic unease isn’t due to the staging—far from it. The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui shares a kinship with Othello.
Seduce
Insightful and nuanced performances can underscore the text’s inherent ambiguities, risking the coherence of the whole.
All political acts may be theatrical, but fascism uniquely innovated in spectacle. Leni Riefenstahl’s unsettling propaganda films pioneered much of today’s cinematic language.
The RSC adeptly highlights the play’s focus on political theatre through the machinations of the armed demagogue—so skillfully, indeed, that it provokes a desire to converse with Brecht about why it mattered so much in 1930s Germany.
The production avoids fully enchanting us, reminding us of the grave stakes involved, with real blood on cauliflowers and genuine death amidst the chaos.
Questioning
Characters lurk in shadows, abducting the unsuspecting into oblivion, testing our susceptibility to allure.
Linnen mentions that during the break, some audience members express a desire for Ui to succeed, describing him as strange yet captivating.
Then the second act unfolds. This alone highlights a daring production willing to probe complicity, blurring the lines between critic and observer, entertained and beguiled.
“You don’t need to take a firm stance as long as you’re constantly questioning. Why is this person speaking? Why do I applaud? Why do I feel this way? Why do I laugh? By questioning, we find answers that benefit us, right?”
This Author
Eleanor Penny serves as an editor at The Ecologist and writes essays, journalism, fiction, and poetry. Subscribe to her Substack ‘Howl Noises’.
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui will play at the RSC Stratford Upon Avon until Saturday, 30 May 2026.
