Accidental Death of an Anarchist Archives

One of Dario Fo’s most loved and renowned works, Accidental Death of an Anarchist is based on the true story of the Piazza Fontana bombing in Milan in 1969 and the subsequent death of Giuseppe Pinelli whilst being held in police custody. Director Dan Meigh’s re-imagination of the play places us in a modern-day police station where a mysterious Maniac (Mat Oliphant) has just climbed through the wrong window to be encountered by Inspector Berlozzo (Phil Rayner) and Constable 1 (Noah Cambridge) who are already in possession of a warrant for his arrest. With a history tied to disruption and disturbance across the ages, the Maniac makes his escape to the fourth floor and an encounter with a Chief Inspector (Eleanor Martin), Inspector Pisoni (Connor Wray), and Constable 2 (Cambridge). With...

Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist is justifiably championed as a paragon of political theatre. It’s a satirical farce, focussed on police corruption and collusion with right-wing agitators. The play premiered in 1970 and was inspired by the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing and the very suspicious death of Giuseppe Pinelli, while being interrogated by the police. Why would a 50-year-old Italian comedy still have relevance today? Hmmm. Well, Lord Scarman’s 1981 report into the Met’s handling of the Brixton riots recommended major changes to police training and law enforcement. In ’93, after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the Macpherson Report found the Met’s investigation was “marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership”. Th...

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Accidental Death of an Anarchist – Hope Street Theatre

Accidental Death of an Anarchist – Lyric Hammersmith