Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui

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Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui ("The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui") [1], subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) [2].

Subject

The play chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago mobster and his attempts to control the cauliflower racket by ruthlessly disposing of the opposition. The play is a satirical allegory of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany prior to World War II. (Wikipedia)

Translations and adaptations

Translated into English by H.R. Hay as The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui in 1941.

Translated into Afrikaans by Karel Schoeman as Die Weerstaanbare Opkoms van Arturo Ui.

Performance history in South Africa

1973: Staged by PACT in the Schoeman Afrikaans translation as Die Weerstaanbare Opkoms van Arturo Ui and directed by Peter Kleinschmidt, with Cobus Rossouw (Arturo Ui), Tobie Cronje (Aankondiger & Bowl), Nigel Vermaas (Flake), Will Bernard (Caruther & Die Regter), David van der Merwe (Butcher & Die Aanklaer), Adriaan van Niekerk (Mulberry), Don Lamprecht (Clark), Frantz Dobrowsky (Sheet & Ignatius Dulfeet), Louis van Niekerk (Ou Dogsborough), Eckard Rabe (Jong Dogsborough), Johan Malherbe (Ernesto Roma), Marko van der Colff (Ted Ragg), Wilna Snyman (Dockdaisy), Paul Slabolepszy (Emanuel Giri), Pietro Nolte (Goodwill & Priester), George Ballot (O'Casey), Johan Malherbe ('n Toneelspeler), Raymond Davies (Giuseppe Givola), Annette Engelbrecht (Betty Dulfeet), Zack du Plessis (Hook), Denis Bettesworth (Fish), Lindsay Reardon (Dokter), Ian Walters (Greenwood) and Marie Koeleman ('n Vrou). Decor by Richard Cook and costumes by Christa Scholtz.

1979: Performed in the English translation as The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui by The Space, including a performance in a new hall at St Frances in Langa. Directed by Peter Stevenson with Aletta Bezuidenhout, Bill Curry, Carlos da Silva, Nicholas Fine, Errol Hart, Faruk Hoosain, Colin Jantjies, Hilary Jones, Caroline Newby, Michael O'Brien, Nathi Rula, Duarte Sylwain, Leslee Udwin and Ralph van Pletzen. Designed by Vivienne Cartwright, sound and lighting by Arthur Benjamin and stage managent by Shauna Johnson.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Resistible_Rise_of_Arturo_Ui

A copy of the PACT performance text of Karel Schoeman's Afrikaans translation, found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archive in 2022.

PACT theatre programme, 1973.

Petru & Carel Trichardt theatre programme collection.

Astbury 1979.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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