The Gangster Play: CIRCUS/CIRCUS (forcibly adapted from Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui)

Brecht’s 1941 satirical allegory of Hitler’s rise to power, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, follows the elevation of a 1930s Chicago mobster who works a corrupt political and economic system to his advantage. Set in a world of gangsters and unprincipled politicians, Brecht shows us—through wry humor—that demagogues rise only through the complicity of enablers.

This performance includes the following: depictions of death and lynching, mentions of suicide, LGBTQ+ slurs, gunshots, use of wooden firearms and other objects as firearms, strobe lighting, startling sound effects, mentions of war and mass death, mentions of discrimination, bloodied clothing, use and sound of a whip, and other adult materials.

NOTE: There will be no late seating for the performances of this production.