Full Cast Set For the RSC's THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI

The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced full casting for its 2026 production of Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, starring double Olivier award-winning actor Mark Gatiss in the title role of the notorious gangster and small-time crook, with big boss ambitions.

The production sees BAFTA award-winning actor and comedian Mawaan Rizwan make his RSC debut in the role of violent gang member Giri, alongside Kadiff Kirwan as Arturo Ui's faithful henchman Roma. They will be joined by double Olivier award-winner Janie Dee as Betty Dullfeet, Christopher Godwin as Dogsborough and LJ Parkinson in the role of master manipulator Givola.

The full cast includes Joe Alessi (Butcher/Dullfeet/Prosecution), Valerie Antwi (Ensemble/Swing), Mark Hammersley (Ensemble/Swing), Rebekah Hinds (Flake/Dockdaisy), Cameron Johnson (Mulberry/Jimmy Greenwool/The Judge), Samuel Nunes de Souza (Ensemble), Mahesh Parmar (Dogsborough's Son/Fish/Inna), Santino Smith (Sheet/Hook) and Amanda Wilkin (Clark/Ragg/The Woman).

Directed by Seán Linnen, in a new version by Stephen Sharkey, Brecht's riotous ‘gangster spectacle' – set in the back alleys of Chicago's criminal underworld - offers a blistering satire on Hitler's ascent to power and a chilling warning from history which continues to echo down the centuries. 

Director Seán Linnen said: “To make my RSC directorial debut with The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is an honour and a galvanising responsibility. Brecht's play is a howl from history begging us to do things differently and reminding us that tyranny doesn't arrive fully formed; it creeps in through charm, complicity and silence.

“What's thrilling about bringing this production to the Swan is the chance to stage it, not as a history lesson, but as a living, breathing provocation to the world we are living in. With Stephen Sharkey's razor-sharp version, Placebo's darkly seductive score and this extraordinary company led by Mark Gatiss, we're leaning into the play's ferocious wit and theatricality, its music, its mischief, and its danger.

“As the threat from the far-right grows daily at home and abroad, it is our job as artists to speak up and out. There is no other play that interrogates the global political moment we are living through more than this one, and I'm so lucky to have such fearless and formidable collaborators to bring this production to life.”

The creative team includes: Director Seán Linnen; Set and Costume Designer Georgia Lowe; Lighting Designer Robbie Butler; Music Placebo – Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal; Sound Designer Johnny Edwards; Movement Director Jennifer Jackson; Fight Director Haruka Kuroda; Casting Director Christopher Worrall CDG; Music Director Richie Hart; Voice and Text Charmian Hoare; Costume Supervisor Harry Whitham; Assistant Director Mandeep Glover.

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui will play in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, from Saturday 11 April – Saturday 30 May, with press night on Tuesday 21 April, marking another historic first for the Company, as the only staging of the play in the RSC's history.