The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Tickets
'You simply can’t take your eyes off Goodman… He is horribly, hypnotically watchable'Daily Telegraph14+ recommended, theatre reserves the right to turn away children under 14
Performance dates
18 September 2013 to 07 December 2013
Run time 2 hours, 50 mins. Performance times: Monday to Saturday at 2.30pm and Thursday & Saturday at 2.30pm
Includes interval
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Following a 2012 critically acclaimed sell-out run at Chichester Festival Theatre, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui transfers to the Duchess Theatre with Henry Goodman once more in the title role.
Arturo Ui is a funny, sharp and thrilling take on the rise of Hitler shot through with razor-sharp wit.
Chicago in the 1930s, the Great Depression - a time of unemployment, fear and corruption, and the perfect time for a small-fry crime boss and his henchmen to make it big, to seize a greater power, an absolute power.
Arturo Ui and his mob of gangsters run protection rackets for both workers and businesses. Soon Ui’s menacing shadow looms large, from the markets, to the docks and across the city itself. You might be with him, you might be against him - it certainly seems you can’t stop him.
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui was written by Brecht in only three weeks in 1941 whilst in exile in Helsinki, Finland awaiting a visa to enter the US. The play was not produced on the stage until as late as 1958, and not until 1961 in English. In spite of this, Brecht never envisioned a version of the play in Germany, intending it for the American stage all along.
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui play is consciously a highly satirical allegory of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, whose rise Brecht represented in parallel to that of Ui. All the characters and groups in the play had direct counterparts in real life, with Ui representing Hitler, his henchman Ernesto Roma representing Ernst Röhm, Dogsborough representing Paul von Hindenburg (a pun on the German Hund and Burg), Emanuele Giri representing Hermann Göring, Giuseppe Givola representing Joseph Goebbels, the Cauliflower Trust representing the Prussian Junkers, the fate of the town of Cicero standing for the Anschluss in Austria and so on. In addition, every scene in the play is based on a real event, for example the warehouse fire which represented the fire at the Reichstag, or the Dock Aid Scandal which represented the Osthilfeskandal (East Aid) scandal. The play is similar to the film The Great Dictator (1940), which also featured an absurd parody of Hitler by Charlie Chaplin.
★★★★ 'The best stage performance I’ve seen this year' Time Out
★★★★ 'Swaggeringly confident production … a show you really should see' The Daily Telegraph
★★★★ 'Goodman is mesmeric…an electrifying performance' The Daily Telegraph
★★★★ 'Goodman dazzles' The Evening Standard
★★★★ 'Irresistibly powerful… A tutorial in the power of acting' Daily Mail
★★★★ 'Goodman is astonishing… a virtuoso' The Times
★★★★ 'Goodman is a knock out' The Guardian
★★★★ 'Goodman…a tour de force' The Independent
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui tickets are on sale now!
Latest The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui News
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News
Last Chance To See Henry Goodman's Performance Of A Lifetime In The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui
The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui will end its run as scheduled at the Duchess Theatre on Saturday 7th December 2013. Following a hugely successful run at the Chichester Festival Theatre last year, the production transferred to the West End in September.
12 Nov, 2013 | By London Theatre Direct
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News
Critics can't resist The Resistible Rise
Following its press night on the 25th September the show that charmed the critics at the Chichester Fesitval in 2012 is doing the same at the Duchess Theatre. Henry Goodman reprises the title role in this fiercely sharp-witted take on the meteoric rise to power of Adolf Hitler. Presales for the show have been impressive and reviews just in have cemented the show as a must-see.
27 Sep, 2013 | By London Theatre Direct
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News / Videos
VIDEO: Henry Goodman: Becoming Arturo Ui
Henry Goodman talks about his role in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Duchess Theatre
19 Sep, 2013 | By London Theatre Direct
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News
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Opens This Week!
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui opens at London's Duchess Theatre this week.
16 Sep, 2013 | By London Theatre Direct
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