The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui was an extremely captivating play in its intimacy and message. Before seeing the play in real life, we discussed in class how Bertolt Brecht was able to permeate and break the fourth wall. The fourth wall is the invisible barrier between the audience and the actors and it was invigorating to see it break. I have not seen the fourth wall broken besides in stand-up comedies. Experiencing the fourth wall shattering before our eyes kept me invigorated and attentive to every detail of the play. I followed the eyes of Arturo Ui’s eyes as he gazed at the crowd either in contempt or sadness. When the actors spoke their dialogues, it did not feel as if we were invisible. Rather, we were part of the act, we were the innocent passerby’s understanding of the situations in the rise of Arturo Ui. There was no refrain in the way the actors acted their parts. We heard the anger in the voices. We saw the spit rolling off the tongues of each character. Many times during the play, actors walked throughout the crowd maintaining eye contact and speaking with the audience. I loved how each character had their own secret agenda. They were either plotting against Arturo or on his team. Their actions indicated how the art of malice and manipulation is prevalent in society. Arturo Ui was able to manipulate the people by instilling fear in the people, often threatening their families with violence and deplorable acts. The burning of the market was one such act.

There were a couple quotes during the play that stook out to me in their relevancy and urgency. “Influence is what counts not action.” Today, people with powers of influence are able to shape the way common people see the world and act. Our President, Donald Trump, a man with probably the greatest influence of the United States is able to craft the way people. He mentions how the United States should be a nationalistic nation whereby we value Americans more than anyone else. Likewise, he presents his antagonistic view of immigrants through his speeches and dialogue. His influence is able to captivate the body of people living in and outside of the United States. While his actions may or may not be just, President Trump’s influence overweighs the detriments or merits of them. “Unity requires sacrifice” was another quote that made me think. During the Holocaust, Hitler built his ideology of killing the Jews in a similar fashion. To bring the German people out of a recession, he wanted to eliminate the Jews, and in doing so “sacrifice” them for the greater good.