The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Uchenna Izundu reflects on the African revamp of Bertolt Brecht's satire at the Lyric theatre which analyzes the rise to power of cruel dictators.
Set in a nameless African state suffering from poverty, extortion, and corruption, David Farr's production brings a new dynamism to this painful parable of Arturo Ui: a surly gangster opportunist whose rise to supremacy parallels those of a Hitler dictator. He murders and blackmails his way to power by forcing cauliflower sellers to buy his protection.
Bertolt Brecht originally wrote this play in 1941, setting it in Chicago, because he was horrified at Hitler's power spurt and the complicity of others in sustaining the tyranny until it was too late. The laborious plot is difficult to follow smoothly, but key scenes are the farcical trial following the burning of a vegetable warehouse where an innocent man is condemned to continue Ui's reign of terror which refers to Reichstag, and Ui's takeover of Cicero to mean Austria.
The lack of specificity in the African backdrop clouds some of these references, effectively reducing Brecht's criticisms and the impact of this work on the audience. Lucian Msamati is a charismatic and cruel Ui with a serious inferiority complex. This is comically captured when Ui hires a posh actor (Joseph Mydell) to show him how to command a room with his walk and talk. But there are chilling undertones as this posturing will further intimidate the residents and sellers, rather than entertain them. By the end he is transformed from a skulking, frustrated C grade hoodlum to a slick city suit commander who boldly announces that he will capture Harare, Kampala, Nairobi, and Khartoum.
The opening is slow and clumpy, but this is a powerful cast whose traditional Naija wear, accents, and references allude to a potted history of Africa's dictators. Ariyon Bakare and Nyasha Hatendi as Ui's jealous sidekicks and Susan Salmon as a broken, fearful widow all offer strong performances.
On the one hand, this production is not radical enough in its transposition to Africa and yet on the other, it is uncomfortable viewing in showing how an ambitious man can grab power and trigger the descent of a law-abiding society into corruption and thuggery to maintain it.
For tickets call 08700 500511 or visit www.lyric.co.uk . The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui runs until March 15.