WILLITS, CA., 10/4/26 — Auditions will be held October 10 and 16 in Willits for actors to perform in a staged reading of Bertolt Brecht’s satirical gangster play, The Resistible Rise of Arturo UI. Director Mary Guibert seeks actors aged 18 and up, with no restrictions as to gender.
The 1941 play is about a gangster who seizes control of the vegetable trade in Chicago and Cicero, Illinois, during the Great Depression, with intended parallels to the rise of authoritarianism in pre-World War II Germany.
As to the importance of the play today, Guibert says, “There has always been an ongoing struggle for liberty and democracy in the face of authoritarianism. When everyone is desperate for a job, to pay their rent, or to put food on the table is when authoritarianism can take hold.”
The auditions will be held at 234 S. Main Street, Suite #4 in Willits on Saturday, Oct. 10 at noon, and Friday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. Performances of the play will be at Willits Community Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. For information, contact Mary Guibert at (707) 513-6789.