The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

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The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (original German title: Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui) is a play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, originally written in 1941. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional Chicago mobster, and his attempts to control the cauliflower racket by ruthlessly disposing of the opposition.

It was written by Brecht in 1941 in Helsinki while he awaited 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.

The play is consciously highly satirical of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, whose rise Brecht considered parallel to that of Ui. All the characters and groups in the play have direct counterparts in real life, with Ui representing Hitler, his henchman Ernesto Roma representing Ernst Röhm, Emanuele Giri representing Göring, the Cauliflower Trust representing the Prussian Junkers and so on. In addition, every scene in the play is based on a real event, with a warehouse fire representing the fire at the Reichstag.

The play has been criticized for emphasizing the gangster aspect of the Nazis and ignoring their strong ideological and racist appeal. Other reviewers have said the play is more of an attack on the complacency of the people that allowed Hitler to gain power. Brecht can be seen as attacking the judiciary and the junkers that sided with Hitler for economic gain and it is these aspects he concentrates his satire on.

The part of Arturo Ui has been played by a number of notable actors including Al Pacino, Leonard Rossiter, Antony Sher, Griff Rhys Jones and Adam Silkey.