The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui

Davenham Players kindly invited me to watch their production of Brecht’s ‘The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui’. Having studied Brecht previously, I was expecting an abstract piece of theatre, and this is what Davenham Players delivered. Opening with an original song written for the show (by Lloyd Williams and Graeme Barrie), it was obvious from the outset that some cast members were not as committed and confident as others – stumbling over lyrics, unsure of movement and looking uncomfortable in their performance.

Jane Barrie took the reins for this production, and, under Jane’s direction, the cast delivered a powerful piece of theatre filled with opportunities to make the audience think and make the relevant connections to real life themes. The choice to have the cast on stage for much of the production sitting and watching from the sides was a great one. They delivered great reactions to the scenes for the most part and this added to the overall impact. Props and pieces of costume (hats, jackets etc) were stored at the sides of the stage, giving easy access for the cast to quickly change when needed – which was often! A cast of 12 playing 45 roles between them (from what I can count) must have been a logistical nightmare but they pulled this off with ease. Not once did the cast pull attention away from the scenes when they were changing costume pieces. Taking on so many roles can be hard to showcase character development or allow the audience to form opinions/emotions for the characters, however this was handled well from most of the actors. With the play set in Chicago, the cast had to adopt accents however there were a number of members who did not show consistency with this – both in terms of keeping in line with the rest of the cast and maintaining the accent throughout.

The production used mostly static set, with the odd piece being moved to set different scenes. This was mostly the same piece, rotated and dressed appropriately for several scenes. I really liked this choice. rather than having a variety of set pieces to be brought on and off. Although the set changes were minimal, they were often very slow and executed in silence while the stage was still list. This did affect the pace and flow of the production unfortunately. In addition to the scenery, projections were utilised across the back wall to display text and imagery during set changes. These could not be seen very well by the audience and so did not pull attention away from the scene changes (which, I assume, was the intention).

Some additional sound/music would have helped keep the scene changes flowing in my opinion. The overall sound when used was great and very effective – particularly during the songs performed by the cast. The instruments of the “band” could have been slightly louder, but it still had a generally great sound. MD for the production Graeme Barrie along with Lloyd Williams wrote the songs for the cast to sing. They told the story well and were used effectively to break up the dialogue and keep the energy up. There was a basic lighting plot used to ensure the cast were consistently lit. However, I feel that some darker light or blackouts would have been more effective between scenes and may have helped the projections to be seen clearer. Costumes were a strong element of this production with them all being very much of the era and lots of attention to detail. The colour schemes used throughout were really catching, mostly red and black but with specific characters given more vibrant tones. The show featured appropriate props for the time, themes and characters. What I found especially effective were the red balloons used throughout to represent gun shots, scattering red confetti with each bang. When you saw someone entering the stage with a red balloon, you knew what was about to happen which had a really strong impact.

In the title role of Arturo Ui was Mudasser Panchbhaya. For me, unfortunately, this was one of the weaker performances within the production. There was no strength or demand in Mudasser’s stage presence which I feel is vital when playing a role like this. His accent was very inconsistent throughout with a lot of lines tripped over during dialogue which often made it hard to understand and lacked a connection with the audience.

As Arturo’s right-hand man, Giri, was Elizabeth Gorman. Elizabeth performed with a constant crazed look in her eyes and showed full commitment to the role, both vocally and physically. She remained consistently in character throughout, even when not taking part in the scenes. This role was performed with a great accent and projection, along with clear diction. A brilliant performance.

Ashleigh Corcoran took on a total of 8 roles overall, and each had its own personality and portrayal. These were very strong performances across the board, showcasing a wide range of acting abilities from Ashleigh. Taking on the roles of Sheet and Givola was David Varley. David always displayed a commanding stage presence in the way he held himself on stage. I particularly enjoyed his performance as Givola, the maniacal laugh that came up often was both hilarious and very unsettling. Very well played.

Playing 6 varying roles was Becki Hosker who gave great performances in all roles she took on. Her facial expressions were particularly brilliant, alongside some strong comedy action. She bounced off the other actors really well, showing different relationships throughout. Lloyd Williams gave good performances in his 3 roles (4 if you count piano player!) however I found his version of Old Dogsborough to be a bit too softly spoken, making it a little hard to hear some of the dialogue. A great performance was given from Kell Cowley, particularly in her role as Roma. She brought high levels on energy to the role and played the emotions very well, especially in her later scenes.

Rounding out the rest of the cast were Kathryn Cooke, Ash Broad, Lou Wade, Joshua Allen and Graeme Barrie. Each of them brought light and dark to different scenes and characters portrayed throughout. I must give special mention to Lou Wade’s performance as The Actor. This was a brilliant scene and Lou played this so well. Giving just the right levels of comedy and flamboyance. Most of the cast did a sterling job of distinguishing between the character they were playing. Despite some performances lacking in diction, energy and projection which made parts of the show harder to follow, the cast as a whole did a good job and bringing this play to life.

This was an enjoyable, moving and thought-provoking production with some strong performances displayed throughout. Thank you to Davenham Players for inviting me along and I wish them the best of luck with their future productions.

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