“The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui” Confronts Our Complacency—at Mercury
Ally Bray and Kevin Bordi. Photos by Mike Thompson.
Bertolt Brecht Spins a Parable of Crime & Capitalism
by Isa S. Chu
Like vegetables blended into a hearty spaghetti sauce, Brecht’s 1941 satire of Hitler’s rise to power camouflages a terrifying truth. Brecht fled Nazi Germany and wrote this “parable play” to alert the world. The renowned revolutionary German playwright is talking about us, too.
Brecht recasts Hitler’s tyranny as a gangster story in Depression-era Chicago, where a small-time gangster seizes control of the cauliflower trade. Using both prose and poetry, Brecht has created a dense, wordy masterwork. We may lose a few lines along the way, but the message is clear: tyranny is resistible.
Tyrants thrive when businessmen, politicians, and working folk turn away from reality.
At the center of this political circus is Arturo Ui (phenomenal Kevin Bordi), a magnetic menace representing Hitler. Ui appears hunched, raspy, and feral until The Actor (Norman Hall) teaches him to “perform” for the public. Ui’s posture and gestures stiffen, and his awkward gait turns into the chilling march of Nazi soldiers.
By Act Two, in an oversized suit and long red tie, Bordi evolves into a disturbingly familiar figure.
As the capitalist Dogsborough, Eileen Morris embodies the quiet art of self-justification, showing how small compromises can spiral into catastrophe. As Ui’s gang of thugs, Matt Cadigan’s Roma, Lisa Flato’s Givola, and Be! Wilson’s Giri bristle with swagger and suspicion. They remind us of the feeble personalities in the Orange Man’s cabinet.
The ensemble, including Elias Allen, Juliana Eiras, Brian Sennello, and Zane Walters, juggles multiple roles with sharp comic timing.
Live music from the on-stage piano in Act One creates a hunky-dory façade while Ui’s dark ambition bubbles underneath. The ensemble, costumed in ICE uniforms in Act Two, along with an added word “Huge” describing a large public gathering, turns Brecht’s allegory into a striking reflection of our current political chaos.
Ui claws his way to power through bribery of the elite, extortion of small businesses, and propaganda for the masses that wins over the fearful. As he seizes the city’s cauliflower trade, we recognize the blueprint of history unfolding before us.
In a disquieting moment, the actors stand frozen in Nazi salute in the dark, as Bordi delivers a chilling reminder in the spotlight: “Although the world stood up and stopped that bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again.” Fascism is the threat we must fight, now.
Start with a trip to Petaluma to see a thrilling production of a great poet and prophet.
“The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui” by Bertolt Brecht, translated by George Tabori, directed by Keith Baker, scenic design/props by Lauren Heney, sound by Jared Emerson-Johnson, lighting by Missy Weaver, costumes by Tracy Hinman, projections by Chuck Starzenski, at Mercury Theater, Petaluma, California.
Info: mercurytheater.org - to November 16, 2025.
Cast: Kevin Bordi, Matt Cadigan, Be! Wilson, Lisa Flato, Keith Baker, Eileen Morris, Watson Baker, Zane Walters, Elias Allen, John Browning, Juliana Eiras, Norman Hall, Ally Brae, Mercedes Murphy, and Brian Sennello.
