THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI

Described by Brecht as a gangster play that would recall certain events familiar to us all, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is a witty and savage satire of the rise of Hitler - recast by Brecht into a small-time Chicago gangsters takeover of the citys greengrocery trade. Using a wide range of parody and pastiche - from Al Capone to Shakespeares Richard III and Goethes Faust - Brechts compelling parable continues to have relevance wherever totalitarianism appears today. Written during the Second World War in 1941, the play was one of the Berliner Ensembles most outstanding box-office successes in 1959, and has continued to attract a succession of major actors, including Leonard Rossiter, Christopher Plummer, Antony Sher and Al Pacino. This version, originally translated by George Tabori, has been revised by leading Scottish playwright Alistair Beaton.