A review by Pauline Flannery for EXTRA! EXTRA!
Police strong-arm tactics and anarchist activity - sound like the fall-out from the recent protests over government cuts in London? It could be, but this is the backdrop to Dario Fo’s 1970s modern classic, Accidental Death of an Anarchist. And given soured events of two weeks ago, this production at the Waterloo East Theatre emphasises its timeless appeal, complete with atmospheric rumbles from the overhead trains.
Accidental Death of an Anarchist is based on real events surrounding a series of bomb attacks by the right wing group Ordine Nuovo between 1969 and 1974, in Italy. A railway worker, Giuseppe Pinelli, ‘falls’ from a 4th floor window as he is held in police custody following the first bombing in Milan. The police assert that his death was suicide, the investigating authorities that it was an accident.
The fast-talking madman, Nicholas Kempsey, infiltrates police headquarters, assumes the guise of a judge, and interrogates those culpable in Pinelli’s death. The madman impersonates different characters, as well as adopting many other characteristics and stereotypes, as he linguistically chews them up and spits them out. Kempsey’s impersonations and double-talk are high octane stuff and impressive, with his gimpy shuffle, goose-stepping ape-like judge, and his Max Wall-inspired Captain of the Marines.
The direction by Neil Sheppeck is sharp and confident. He utilises some comedic giants: Aristophanes, Harlequin, the Keystone Cops and the Marx Brothers to punch home the serious intent in Accidental Death of an Anarchist, which threatens to breach the walls of this anarchic comedy in the presence of Pinelli’s photograph pinned centre-stage. And Sheppeck handles this new translation by Jon Laskin and Michael Aquilante, in its topical references to the Arts Council, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, the Japanese earthquake, and chillingly, the madman’s direct address on American nerve gas, with verve and attack.
This gives the proceedings a fresh, contemporary bite, off-set by a bag of fast-paced buffoonery including catch-phrases, gags, pratfalls, pictograms, ill-fitting wigs, Columbo-inspired coats and detachable hands, all glued together by a 70s sit-com, John Barryesque music score, Edward Lewis, and a Sweeney/Life on Mars suggestive setting, that is both waspish and fun.
The trio of Will Harrison-Wallace, Gareth Llewelyn and David Hughes as the police officials are the three stooges to Kempsey’s antics. The shoe/galoshes routine is enjoyable, as are the absurd re-construction of the anarchist’s death, and the madman’s attempt to throw them all out of the window. And when the three turn on the hapless Inspector Bertozzo, Alex Barclay, the play’s physical absurdity is at its most farcical.
'Laughter', says Fo’s wife and collaborator, Franca Rame, 'opens not only people’s mouths but their minds as well and allows some shafts of reason to strike home'. In this regard we are left in no doubt that the madman calls the tune, as he both shows, and is, 'the farce of power'.
Ultimately, we choose colours from the radical right, or the softer left, (represented by the investigative red-coated journalist in a strong performance by Aimee Parkes), or anarchy. As the red paint and memory fade from the new egg-shell blue façade of Fortnum & Mason, Piccadilly, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, in a moment of serendipity, reminds us that any action can be a powerful political expression. It just depends on what or whose story is being constructed at any given time.
Waterloo East Theatre
Brad Street, London SE1
http://www.waterlooeast.co.uk/
Tickets: £15, £12 (concessions)
Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30pm
Thursday Matinee at 1pm
Sunday at 4pm
Copyright © EXTRA! EXTRA All rights reserved