Accidental Death of an Anarchist

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Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Cover of the 2004 edition of Morte accidentale di un anarchico
Author	Dario Fo
Country	Italy
Language	Italian
Publisher	Einaudi, Turin
Publication date	10 December 1970
Media type	Print
Pages	89

Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Italian title: Morte accidentale di un anarchico) is perhaps the best-known play by the Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo.

Contents 1 About the play 2 Major productions 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] About the play

The play is based on events involving a real person, Giuseppe Pinelli, who fell - or was thrown - from the fourth floor window of a Milan police station in 1969. He was accused of bombing a bank (the Piazza Fontana bombing). The accusation is widely seen as part of the Italian Far Right's strategy of tension.

The events of the play itself, however, are fictional. The play opens with Inspector Bertozzo interrogating The Maniac, a histrionic character, on the first floor of the police station. The Maniac, however, 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.

[edit] Major productions

• Accidental Death of an Anarchist was first staged by Dario Fo on December 5, 1970 in Varese, Italy.This production toured Italy playing to audiences totaling more than a million by theatre group, Collettivo Teatrale La Comune.
• An English translation was published by Suzanne Cowan in Theater Magazine in 1979, and led to subsequent productions in Minneapolis in 1982.
• In February 9, 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 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.
• British television adaptation in 1983 on Channel 4,^[1] which mixed the original Italian setting with contemporary references to Thatcher's Britain. Starring Gavin Richards as Maniac, directed by Alan Horrox and Gavin Richards.
• In May, 1997, the play was performed in India, by director Arvind Gaur for Asmita Theatre, Delhi. Adaptation in Hindi as Operation Three Star by Amitabh Srivastava of National School of Drama, starring Piyush Mishra as Maniac.^[2]
• In 2003, a new translation by Simon Nye was performed at the Donmar Warehouse theatre, London, starring Rhys Ifans Directed by Robert Delamere.^[3]
• In 2008, the play was adapted in urdu and performed by 'DRAMALINE', the dramatic society of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). The 5 day production took place at Al-Hamra Hall in Lahore and attracted a great audience. The play was titled 'Marta Kya Na Karta'.
• The play was performed in a new translation and 2008 update in the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, by the Northern Broadsides company, in November 2008.
• In 2009 the Sydney Theatre Company will perform this play, more details to be updated soon.

[edit] See also

• Giuseppe Pinelli
• Piazza Fontana bombing
• Strategy of tension

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Full text of the play (Archived 2009-10-24)

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