Classical Music, Readings

The unstoppable rise of Arturo Ui

Monday, 13/01/2025 / 07:30 PM - 12:00 AM / M*Halle

by Bertold Brecht

"You must believe, believe! That I want the best for you and I know what that best is."

One: If every human being were innocent at birth - what gives rise to hatred, lust for power, murderousness and the will to destroy, are the boundaries of morality transgressed, conscience, empathy and humanity overridden? Or is evil inherent in us humans as a possibility from the very beginning? Two: Is economic hardship creating a climate of insecurity and mistrust that, out of fear of losing their livelihood, fuels a fatal longing for simple answers and blinds entire societies to the influence of powerful string-pullers who work unscrupulously in the background to achieve their goals? Three: Why does the vast majority remain silent about what appears to be unstoppable and not act while there is still time?

Using Bertolt Brecht's 1941 parable, which was written in exile in America and tells of the rise of the Nazi dictatorship using mafia-style motifs, director Martin Nimz and his ensemble of actors explore these questions and take a critical look at our present day. At the center: Arturo Ui - a small-time Chicago gangster in Brecht's play - and his rise, aided and abetted by those who want to help him to power. Once he has been trained in rhetoric, his demagogic skills mature and Ui increasingly succeeds in manipulating the masses. Opponents are eliminated in cold blood, false truths are spread and his own influence is expanded and secured. The sighted majority remains silent. Opportunism, egoism and the defense of personal advantage have paved the way for the catastrophic course of history. It is too late to avert the impending disaster of a monster becoming a monster before everyone's eyes.

All statements without guarantee.