As far-right authoritarians gain power around the world (cough, cough), artists in our community have been seeking ways to produce works that meet these unprecedented times.
Petaluma’s Mercury Theater has chosen a play by German playwright Bertolt Brecht. He saw the writing on the wall in Germany and fled his country before World War II. While waiting in Finland to immigrate to the United States in 1941, Brecht expanded on one of his earlier works. That work became The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.
It’s refreshing to see Brecht’s somewhat-obscure allegory about Hilter’s ascension being produced locally and with such a dedicated cast. This saga of a mobster on a despotic tear, directed by Keith Baker, runs through Nov. 16 at the old Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma…