{"id":1114,"date":"2017-06-19T16:04:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T20:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/?p=1114"},"modified":"2017-06-19T16:04:20","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T20:04:20","slug":"audiencing-joining-the-resistance-at-donmar-warehouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/2017\/06\/audiencing-joining-the-resistance-at-donmar-warehouse.html","title":{"rendered":"Audiencing: Joining the Resistance at Donmar Warehouse?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week in London I was able to see the much discussed Donmar Warehouse production of Bruce Norris\u2019 new adaptation of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not hard to see why Brecht\u2019s satirical account of the rise of a clownish American dictator would find its moment now, amidst a global wave of unbridled populism and unapologetic me-first-ism. The orange hair is just the cherry on top.<\/p>\n

The original version of Arturo Ui<\/em>, written in 1941, was about Hitler, sure. But as in all of his theatrical work (playwriting, directing, theorizing for social change), Brecht\u2019s goals were far more complex than a simple \u201cwake-up call\u201d about the dangers of authoritarian regimes. Arturo Ui<\/em> is more an indictment of American capitalism\u2014the kind of self-interested economic policy that had not as yet, in 1941, determined that it was financially advantageous to exit the \u201cAmerica First\u201d ideology that had thus far kept the country out of the war. Brecht set the play in depression-era Chicago in order to point directly at a socio-economic system in which the coming of our own home-grown dictator was inevitable. If we didn\u2019t change our ways.<\/p>\n

The Donmar production, which closed on June 17, was riveting: gleefully literal (taking on Trump with a cartoonish ferocity) and nearly combustible in its acting and staging choices. The audience participation segments, though largely predictable, were satisfying, particularly at the end as we were offered the choice of supporting Arturo (by standing), or resisting him (by sitting).<\/p>\n

So why did I leave the theatre feeling like shit?<\/p>\n

Because I know what Brecht intended when he wrote Arturo Ui<\/em>, and it was not to arouse and then easily assuage my middle class progressivism by giving me the opportunity to \u201cresist\u201d Arturo\/Donald by taking a seat at the end of the play. Brecht sees me as complicit in a capitalist system that elects leaders like Hitler and Trump. And I knew, as I walked out of that London theatre, that I was complicit. I thought, for example, about the fact that I\u2019m still watching CNN in order to gloat at Trump\u2019s latest idiocy, even though it has been amply illustrated<\/a> that CNN\u2019s 24\/7 Donald Trump coverage played a major role in his election to the presidency. I know perfectly well that when I watch CNN I\u2019m contributing to the network\u2019s ratings and thus to its corporate profitability and thus to the health and well-being of the neo-liberal state, which doesn\u2019t give a shit about anything but the bottom line.<\/p>\n

The good news about my audiencing experience at Donmar? It prompted me to put some serious thought into my role thus far in the Trump debacle. Brecht would approve of that at least.<\/p>\n

Those of you living in the Los Angeles area who are interested in these kinds of questions might consider attending the Zocalo Public Square conference this Sunday (June 25) at the Omni Hotel (free and open to the public with advance registration). I\u2019ll be participating in a panel entitled \u201cDoes Art Really Make Us Better Citizens?\u201d<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe I\u2019ll see you there?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week in London I was able to see the much discussed Donmar Warehouse production of Bruce Norris\u2019 new adaptation of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. It\u2019s not hard to see why Brecht\u2019s satirical account of the rise of a clownish American dictator would find its moment now, amidst a global wave of unbridled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1117,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions\/1117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}