Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui

Berliner Ensemble

Bertold Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is a timeless play and a play for our times. His parable centres on unscrupulous dictator Ui and his rise to power. It is a tale of audacity and brutality that offers a razor-sharp analysis of opportunism, populism and totalitarianism in uncertain times.

Ui is both grovelling upstart and ruthless tyrant, a lowly Chicago mobster who rises above his insignificance by turning dictator. Even though it was written in 1941, the play has lost none of its poignancy.

Heiner Müller first directed The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Berliner Ensemble on 3 June 1995, shortly before his death. His acclaimed production received rave reviews and was invited to Berliner Theatertreffen in 1996. The production was performed more than 400 times all over the world and is regarded as a milestone of political theatre to this day.

"An exclamation mark in theatre history." Berliner Zeitung

"No other piece can be as superbly irritating." Der Standard