The resistible rise of Arturo Ui

'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui' is a savage satire in blank verse on the rise of Hitler, wittily transposed into a small-time gangster's takeover of Chicago's greengrocery trade. The seam of black comedy which runs through this political parable does not lessen the sharpness of its accusation; the unpleasantness of the pseudo-dictator Ui is hardly a revelation, but Brecht points to the resistibility of his rise, and the society that permitted it. Using a wide range of parody and pastiche Brecht creates a hilariously comic and darkly condemnatory allegory warning of the persistence of fascism.