Webster University’s Conservatory opened this year’s season with “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” a play I heard was controversial from friends and around campus. For me, it didn’t feel as uncomfortable and unsettling as they depicted it to be.
The play is a satirical parody of Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany, set in the Great Depression. It shows a town trying to find the right leader to help them get back on their feet, only to discover the leader they chose isn’t who they thought. Arturo Ui, meant to represent Hitler, is more violent and cruel than his followers who beat and battered people. His followers even do the Hitler salute.
Gaffles/Giuseppe Givola, played by Sarah Emberling, sings and dances while using her body to form Swastikas which provides more obvious nods to Nazi Germany. Besides the uncomfortable layers, the show was quite funny, particularly in the beginning of the play when the cast acts like the audience isn’t there and just acts normal before the cast gets serious and that’s when you know the play has begun.
The play’s beginning started with The Actor, played by Otto Klemp, frantically looking for the cast to start the show. Eventually, they act as a narrator, telling the audience what the play will be about. Then, it falls perfectly together and swiftly takes off from there.
The acting made you feel like you were there, in that period with them. An actor who caught my eye was Lillian Cooper who played Ui. She showed the rise of Hitler’s insanity and the greed in his eyes. Cooper also killed it with the ending, giving a speech with the message of, ‘Don’t sit around and do nothing, vote, so we don’t have another Hitler in power.’ That was very powerful and a wonderful way to end the play, especially since we have an election coming up for a new president.
Another favorite was Ernesto, played by Sara Leste. Her facial expressions were emotional and her tiny gestures conveyed a lot of emotion, especially in the argument between Ui and Ernesto towards the end of the play before Ernesto’s unfortunate death by Ui’s hand.
Also, the actors use a handful of random pauses which makes it lighthearted, as well as the actors playing bodyguards who made it powerful, but also comedic.
Someone else who I am impressed with is Paola Angeli, who played the wife of Mr. Dull Feet, who had an unfortunate fate. She showed how fast someone can turn depressed and how cruel Ui was. Her performance caught my eye immediately.
Without the moments of lightheartedness, the grim subject matter portrayed would have made the play more uncomfortable. Overall, the light cussing and comedic scenes made the themes more digestible. It intrigued me how the Conservatory made it reflect on what’s happening in the world around us today. If the Conservatory displayed the show better and made sure there was a way for everyone to know the same concept of the play, it would’ve been easier to follow. Watchers were saying different things about this play, so it was tough to follow in the beginning.
This play made me think about the choices we make in elections. We can’t always trust the candidate who fills our head with what we want to hear. You have to look at who they are as a person and that made me have a whole new perspective of voting. Don’t do what everyone else does, speak up and have a voice. Don’t let history repeat itself.
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