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College Tribune | November 12th 2008
THEATRE
Doing it Gansta-style Cathy Buckmaster caught up with award-winning Irish director, Jimmy Fay between rehearsals to talk about his newest project for the Abbey, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui is a blunt satire on Adolf Hitler’s rise to power set in 1930’s Chicago which was written by Bertolt Brecht in 1941, following his exile from Nazi Germany. Often referred to as Brecht’s gangster play, it is a black comedy which depicts Hitler as a petty but vicious hoodlum who tries to seize control of the green-grocery trade in twenties Chicago. Irish director, Jimmy Fay speaks very ardently about this play and its relevance today. “What I love about The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is that it’s like a template of every gangster movie you’ve ever seen. It’s a brilliant illustration of the rise of fascism. At the beginning it talks about economical crisis and how this enabled the rise of a dictatorship which seems quite pertinent in a weird way. It’s also a very unusual Brecht play as its kind of funny and fast moving.
Brecht can be a bit moralistic but this isn’t.” “Another reason I really liked it was that it was a good illustration of the last eight years in America with Bush and the way somebody can over and choose to get involved with the world. I remember when we all marched here a few years ago against invading Iraq and they still went ahead and did it.” The Brechtian format of telling the viewer what will happen prior to its occurrence is evident in the play. “There’s a prologue that says what is going to happen but that adds to the drama of what actually happens because you get engaged with it. What Brecht wants to do is stimulate you all the time.” As for why Chicago was the chosen setting for this satire on Hitler, Fay offers this explanation. “I think Chicago in the twenties was a re-
ally electric place. They found away around prohibition by importing liquor from Canada. I think Brecht is trying to draw stark parallels of gangster-ism which is kind of a result of capitalism, and fascism which is also a result of capitalism.” The Play is obviously very influenced by Hollywood Gangster movies which Fay thinks is hugely significant for the play. “He was very influenced by the Warner Brother gangster films like Scar Face and Little Caesar. When we were rehearsing, I thought I’d show them, so we had an afternoon of watching movies.” “Brecht learned as much from movies as he did from theatre and part of his genius was to adapt it and make it theatrical. He adapted the immediacy of film and brought that to theatre. I think what were doing with Ui is showing how this play written in 1941 is still relevant now. You would
have thought we’d moved on because we always on about getting advanced and modern but the young are always naïve and the old are always bitter.” Despite his huge passion for the play, he doesn’t share the same sentiment for the characters. “They’re all evil bastards. But I feel sorry for all the women in the script who get abused. I’m quite fond of some of the characters in it; they just get themselves in bad situations.” “Part of the whole suggestion is that evil is attractive and that’s part of its power. It can equal energy and people like energy, they like leadership and being told what to do. They don’t want chaos and anarchy breaking out. So what you have is a character that is completely evil and Hitler was evil but he was also human and that’s our tragedy.” Fay offers his explanation for what will make this play so appealing to
actions, eye contact and suggestive looks. The only noise comes from the atmospheric but modern funky music and the commonly heard gruesome sound of sawing human flesh. The beating music for the shocking killing spree will speed up your pulse without a doubt. Many of the typical illusions are presented with a twist such as scantily clad women appearing where there were no scantily clad women before, people getting sawed in half and floating objects, from bottles of wine to tables. However the tricks get more horrifying and increasingly difficult to understand how they work as the show goes on such bubbles holding up handkerchiefs, gruesome surger-
ies and a creepy clown being strapped down before being stretched until his body severs and his innards are displayed. One of the first illusions is the impressive but controversial hanging scene, where Daly falls a long way from the rafters with his neck wrapped in a noose. With the lights flickering intensely and dramatic music, he swings and twitches while suffocating before the convulsing ceases. However, this is just the start and Daly has a lot more horrifying tricks up his sleeve. Other nightmarish scenes include the severed limbs of different mutilated bodies being forced together in front of the audience, after which the recently compiled Franken-
students. “It’s by Brecht and Brecht is always an innovative artist and is always pushing the boundaries more than almost any other writer. To get such a big selection of fine actors is tricky but they’re really on the money in this. You can see how pertinent it still is; I think it’s an entertaining good night out and it’s fast moving and has its violent bits but also those bits where you’re challenged by it. Hopefully all the way through you’re entertained because I think that’s the biggest task but I hope this does.” He concludes contentedly.
» Bertolt Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui runs in The Abbey Theatre, 34 years after its first and only production featuring two of the original Abbey cast members, Des Cave and Bosco Hogan, from the 11th November to 6th December 2008.
Prepare for a scare Magick Macabre is a horror illusionshow in the Olympia, full of very gruesome and often gory spectacles, raunchy scenes and not to mention, has its moments of inappropriate but still enjoyable humour. The idea for this horror magic show was conceived and written by Joe Daly who also stars in Magick Macabre. The impressive team that created it includes an award winning director of opera, theatre and musicals and a costume designer responsible for those on the Tudors. This gives you an idea of the calibre of the overall hugely impressive output of the show. The basic story concerns a world renowned magician or horror illusionist called Daemon Cordell who was fascinated by all the classical illusions but he developed an obsession
MAGICK MACABRE OLYMPIA THEATRE with dark magic. After torturing his assistants on stage he is locked up in an insane asylum. The show opens with the cast in bizarre and often terrifying costumes in the wonderfully designed old fashioned insane asylum that looks like a set out of a Saw film with its various instruments of torture, stark cement walls and flickering luminescent lights. It’s the stuff of nightmares already. Using no dialogue throughout the whole show, Daly shows his emotions and intentions through exaggerated
stein creation comes alive. Also, completely inexplicably, between most of the major illusions, two Willy Wonka style Oompa-Loompas in full orange makeup and green wigs come out on stage and weirdly but never the less entertainingly perform a rhyme and dance. All in all, the show is scary, sexy, funny and just a very entertaining night out. No matter how grisly the illusions get, you’ll still be hungry for more and you’re not left unsatisfied. At only €30, you can’t go wrong. However it’s rated 15, so keep in mind it’s not for the faint of heart. Magick Macabre runs in the Olympia theatre until the 15th November. CATHY BUCKMASTER