Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Cover of a 2004 Italian edition of Morte accidentale di un anarchico
Written by	Dario Fo
Characters	Maniac Inspector Bertozzo Inspector Pissani The Superintendent Maria Feletti
Date premiered	5 December 1970
Place premiered	Capannone di Via Colletta, Milan
Original language	Italian
Subject	Police corruption; the death of Italian anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli
Genre	Political farce
Setting	Central Police Headquarters, Milan

Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Italian title: Morte accidentale di un anarchico) is the most internationally recognised play by Dario Fo, recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. Considered a classic of twentieth-century theatre, it has been performed across the world in more than 40 countries, including Argentina, Chile, the United Kingdom, India, Romania, South Africa, South Korea and Iran.^[1]

Background

The play is a farce based on the real-life events surrounding Italian railwayman and anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli, who fell – or was thrown – to his death from the fourth floor window of a Milan police station in 1969. Pinelli was accused of bombing a bank (the Piazza Fontana bombing) but was cleared of the charge.

Plot summary

The events of the play itself, however, are fictional. The play opens with Inspector Bertozzo interrogating The Maniac on the third floor of the police station. The Maniac constantly outsmarts the dim-witted Bertozzo and, when Bertozzo leaves the room, intercepts a phone call from Inspector Pissani. The phone call lets the Maniac know that a judge is due at the police station to investigate the interrogation and death of the anarchist. The Maniac decides to impersonate the judge, and successfully does so. He gets the police to re-enact the events, in the actual fourth floor room, and also involves a woman Journalist who is trying to probe the events. The play ends with two alternative endings, one with Feletti (the Journalist) leaving the four policemen to be bombed and in the second, Feletti uncuffs the men who in turn handcuff her to the window frame leaving her to die. The Maniac then leaves the audience to decide which ending they prefer.

Sequel

A sequel, Pum pum! Chi è? La polizia! (Knock Knock! Who's There? The Police!), followed, which the semiotician Umberto Eco commented favourably on in a weekly column in L'Espresso.^[2]

Blanco death

An actor Mark Blanco, who was cast in the lead role for Accidental Death of an Anarchist at a London fringe theatre, died in unexplained circumstances himself in December 2006 shortly before the production was about to open. Blanco fell to the ground from a balcony in Whitechapel, East London. His family said: "We absolutely do not believe that Mark committed suicide, or that his death was a simple accident." They continue to press for information on Blanco's last hours at the party from those who were present, including society junkie Paul Roundhill and former Libertines singer Pete Doherty.^[3]

List of major productions

A 2009 production of the play at The Doon School in India

Dave's House Theatre Co flyer for Accidental Death of an Anarchist 2007

• Accidental Death of an Anarchist was first staged by Dario Fo and theatre group Collettivo Teatrale La Comune on 5 December 1970 in Varese, Italy. This production toured Italy playing to audiences totalling more than a million.
• An English translation was published by Suzanne Cowan in Theater Magazine in 1979, and led to subsequent productions in Minneapolis in 1982.
• In 1980, the play was staged in Britain at the Wyndham's Theatre in London. It had a highly successful run in the heart of London's theatreland, from 5 March 1980 to 24 October 1981. The production was nominated for a highly prestigious Laurence Olivier Award.
• A British television adaptation, which mixed the original Italian setting with contemporary references to Thatcher's Britain aired on Channel 4 on 23 December 1985.^[4] Starring Gavin Richards as The Maniac, directed by Alan Horrox and Gavin Richards.
• On 9 February 1984, a stage adaptation by Richard Nelson, directed by Doug Wager, opening at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.. The show made it to Broadway starring Jonathan Pryce and Patti LuPone in 1984, but closed after 20 performances and 15 previews.
• In January 1987, Accidental Death of an Anarchist was adapted for a Sinhala version. The play was performed in Sri Lanka, adapted and directed by Vijitha Gunaratne for the Movement for Releasing Political Prisoners. Entitled Saakki, the production starring Gamini Hatthotuwegama as the Maniac.
• In 1992, an adaptation of the play by Jeremy Hardy was broadcast on BBC Radio. It starred Adrian Edmondson as the Maniac and Jennifer Saunders as Feleti, along with Jill Gascoigne, John Forgeham, Stephen Frost and Mark Steel as police officers.
• In May, 1997, the play was performed in India, by director Arvind Gaur for Asmita Theatre, Delhi. A Hindi adaptation was entitled Operation Three Star by Amitabh Srivastava of the National School of Drama, starring Piyush Mishra as the Maniac.^[5]
• In 1998, a Chinese language adaptation was brought to Beijing by China's leading stage director, Meng Jinghui.^[6]
• In 2001, the play was performed by the Magic Lantern theatre group, Chennai, India, directed by Rajiv Krishnan/Pashupathi. The play was culturally adapted for India but performed in English, starring Hans Kaushik as the Maniac, Paul Mathew as the Police Commissioner, Asim Sharma as the Superintendent, and Sriya Chari as the Journalist.
• In 2003, a new translation by Simon Nye was performed at the Donmar Warehouse theatre, London, starring Rhys Ifans and directed by Robert Delamere.^[7]
• In 2005, a new version preserving the original Italian setting was directed by Luca Giberti at the Oxford Playhouse theatre, Oxford, UK, with Brian Stewart playing the Maniac.^[8][9]
• In 2007, a newly formed theatre group from Cornwall, UK, Dave's House Theatre Company performed an original script version showing for 3 days at the Burrell Theatre in Cornwall. The success of the first run led to the group doing a tour of the performance in January 2008 at Truro College, St Austell Arts Centre and Acorn Theatre, Penzance.^[10][11]
• In 2008, the play was adapted in Urdu and performed by Dramaline, the dramatic society of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). The five-day production took place at the Al-Hamra Hall in Lahore and attracted a great audience. The play was entitled Marta Kya Na Karta.
• The play was performed in a new English translation and contemporary updating in the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, by the Northern Broadsides company, in November 2008.
• Based in Pune, India, Swatantra Theatre's adaptation of Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist "delves into the murky side of the police force".^[12]
• In 2009, the Sydney Theatre Company performed the play.^[13]
• In 2011 the play in English was performed at HIFA (Harare International Festival of the Arts) with the bombing changed from a bank to a train station in Zimbabwe, and other parts modified slightly to suit Zimbabwean audiences.
• In 2012, it was performed as a rock musical in Romania by Deva Art Theatre.
• In 2012, Fullhouse Productions performed the play at The Meteor in Hamilton, New Zealand.
• In 2014, LUTheatre performed the production at The ARC in Leicester, England, using the Simon Nye translation. After a successful three night run the producers held talks about making a student film style version of the play, with a wish to adapt the script to further suit film.
• In 2014, it was performed in Berkeley, California at the Berkeley Rep.
• In 2007 it was Adapted into Kashmiri Language as "Hath-e-Handol" by Manzoor Ahmad Mir and was also directed by him at Srinagar Kashmir at Tagore Hall Srinagar Kashmir India.
• In 2009, Mashaal Theater Group staged a Hindi adaptation with the title Bechara Maara Gaya.^[14] The adapted play was made into a single shot film in 2013. ^[15]

Translations

Ed Emery translated an authorised English-language version.^[16]

Further reading

• Mitchell, Tony (1999), Dario Fo: People's Court Jester (Updated and Expanded), London: Methuen, ISBN 0-413-73320-3. 

See also

• Giuseppe Pinelli
• Piazza Fontana bombing
• Strategy of tension

References

External links

• TV Cream on the 1983 Channel Four production of the play
• Full Text of Act 1 Scene 1 from WebArchive
• Full Text of Act 1 Scene 2 from WebArchive
• Full Text of Act 2 from WebArchive
• Another translation of the full play