The Great Dictator

 “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” by Bertolt Brecht, 1941. Adapted, 2016. Frank Theater Reading

Frank Theater’s planned production of this play at one of their movable sites didn’t happen, so instead they staged a free reading at the St. Thomas College Library in St. Paul, MN, USA. It is an adaptation of Brecht’s original play about the rise of fascism in Germany, now fitted to respond to the rise of Trump in 2016.  I’m not sure the adaptation worked, but then I do not have a copy of each play before me.  Nor did anyone else. Certainly lines were inserted into the text that reference quotes by Trump, or allude to him and the MAGA movement. 

2013, Duchess Theater

Arturo Ui (Hitler) in this satire is a Depression-era gangster in Chicago in the 1930s who liquidates anyone who opposes him in his quest to take over the “Cauliflower Trust” (Really the German Junkers and the petit-bourgeoisie) in the city.  The Trust is all of the town’s vegetable dealers, so the whole bourgeois segment of society. He’s sort of an Al Capone on the surface.  In the process he corrupts a powerful Chicago city council person (really von Hindenberg), every vegetable dealer, liquidates a newspaper man (The Chancellor of Austria); and blames others for his crew’s arson and shootings – all part of his protection racket.  He manages to get a huge loan from the city to build a dock and the Trust steals all the money, based on a real scandal in Germany about aid to eastern farmers that was stolen by Junker landowners.  The gang (Nazi Party) and two of its prominent leaders (Goebbels and Goring) resort to continual lies, fabrications and plots. Then the complicated story expands to Cicero (Austrian Anschluss), a formerly notorious mob hangout near Chicago.  Ui pretends to be diplomatic at all times, yet finds himself killing his closest confidant (Ernest Rohm, leader of the Brownshirts) as he’s fearful of anyone opposing him.

The humor, satire and sarcasm are engaging, the unctuous blather obvious, the occasional rhyming dialog great, the frequent crude swearing somewhat shocking even to me.  The machine-gun killings are repetitive but I guess that is the point.  The key link between Trump and Ui is that both pledge to protect the ‘good people’ from evil – criminals, immigrants, Commies, labor people, Jews, Muslims, demons, what have you.  This when the real problems are being caused by Ui and Trump’s allies, who do things like light vegetable warehouses on fire (Reichstag fire).  Blaming others for your own crimes to hide the real perps is the method.  It’s the projection of fear onto ‘the Other’ - Jews, communists, gays, Gypsies, Mexicans, Blacks, Haitians, Chinese, trans people.  It is a purely emotional tactic playing on identity and obscuring real power. 

So the question becomes political in this version – is Trump a fascist like Hitler? Some Democratic leaders now seem to think so. Certainly he has fascist allies on the Christian Dominionist Right, in the various militias, in the bellicose podcast milieu, in MAGA.  The 3%ers, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers are all mobilized, armed and threatening anyone who gets in their way. Yet fascism’s full control of state power requires the adherence of the majority of the ruling class and the military, neither of which he will have or need if he wins.  Trump can still wreak havoc even without full state power.  At least that is their plan.

Trump’s actually a demagogic authoritarian who will use threats, presidential power, legislative power and police power to carry out the aims of his right-wing capitalist backers, as shown in Project 2025.  Orban’s Hungary is the ‘democratic’ ethno-state that they aspire to ape. He won’t need to kill every enemy, or jail them, as did Hitler or Ui.  He will use the U.S. judiciary, journalists, police, educational institutions, church and military powers instead.  His base in the South is already moving in that direction.  Whether he can achieve that nationally is another matter. The resistance of the advanced elements of the working class will make all the difference to defeat any moves towards more authoritarianism.  This is a group which is not mentioned in the text, as the ‘resistance’ inferred by the title – ‘Resistible’ - does not have a parallel in the play except for a tough investigator in Chicago. Evidently the audience is the resistance, which in this case was full of mostly older liberals, sad to say.   

Frank Theater will possibly put on the full play in the spring or summer.

Prior blogspot reviews on this subject, use blog search box, upper left, to investigate our 17 year archive, using these terms: “Fetal,” “Things of Dry Hours,” “Love and Information,” “The Cradle Will Rock,” “The Convert,” “Revolt. Revolt She Said. Revolt Again,” The Good Person of Setzuan,” “The Visit,” (All plays by Frank Theater); or the words ‘fascism,’ ‘Trump’ or ‘Hitler.’  

The Kultur Kommissar / November 5, 2024