Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Tickets Gallery ReviewDario Fo’s dark comedy was based on the real life events in the aftermath of a terrorist bombing in Milan. While in custody, one of the suspects, ultimately found to be innocent, ‘fell’ from a window on the fourth floor of the police station.
In this new adaptation by Tom Basden, he shifts the spotlight from 1970s Milan to London and today’s Metropolitan Police, which in recent years has staggered from crisis to crisis, with incidents and allegations of inappropriate behaviour, abuse of power, racism and misogyny, all too frequently covered up or brushed under the carpet. Clearly there are more than just the one or two bad apples in the barrel, and though the current head of the Met seems determined to change things, he’s having to cope with a culture that is not only seemingly rife with unacceptable attitudes, but is used to being protected no matter what.
The coppers in the show no doubt believe that what they’re doing is right, or at least that their possibly dubious actions are defensible, under the circumstances. Honest, guv. The maniac, our main protagonist, is out to get to the truth or something close to the truth, and on the way show the complete absurdity of the situation. The play, is, first and foremost, a farce, fast-moving, funny and frantic. You’ll find yourself laughing out loud, and then later, thinking about why…
Please note this play does include some use of strong adult language. Parents may deem it unsuitable for younger children.
Star performance by Scorziello brings true anarchy to Coulsdon
Our veteran theatre critic, BELLA BARTOCK, slips into her kitten heels and puts on her pearls for a big night out in Coulsdon, where the performances on stage were truly electric
Accidental Death of an Anarchist is the latest production by the Theatre Workshop Coulsdon, whose performances we had admired and enjoyed in the past. This is a 1970 farce by an Italian playwright, Dario Fo, adapted into English by Tom Basden, which is full of ‘lefty’ concerns about a police state and the accountability of authority.
“An anarchist!” My colleague Claudia screeched, “An anarchist??! And I’m missing Britain’s Got Talent for this?” Half a bottle of Merlot before curtain up, Claudia was suitably calmed. And she was about to witness some real talent, too.
The TWC production of Anarchist is nothing short of un’impresa by Indianna Scorziello, who in a small cast carries the play from beginning to end with an extraordinarily versatile performance.
“I didn’t dare take my eyes off her for a moment,” Claudia said as we emerged into the chill night air afterwards. It didn’t feel as if it was the other half-bottle of Merlot talking, either.
The emphasis with Anarchist is on low farce, a post-war, post-civil rights era Italian farce, from a time when tensions between Italy’s Communists and the Establishment were taut, and some suspects held in custody really would somehow manage to fall from a fourth-floor window at the local police station. Suitably updated to London, this version is being performed just a few days after the Met Police announced it is to install Live Facial Recognition cameras in Croydon, before there’s been any legal safeguards agreed by Parliament. So no modern relevance at all then…
TWC productions are a real community effort, with a dedicated team of regular volunteers front of house and back-stage as well as acting. This production, though, sees fewer in the spotlight on stage than usual – and that places possibly greater pressure on those in the cast.
Joe Wilson, as the Superintendent, looms large, in every sense, alongside Adam Ribeiro as DI Daisy. The detectives are like a pair of hapless escapees from an episode of The Sweeney, epitomising the rough, tough approach to policing that ended in the 1970s, supposedly. Not that either of them were actually there when the anarchist accidentally fell out of the window to his death, of course…
Zack Hall as the gormless constable – at least that’s what I thought they called him – fits his role very well, too, while Hannah Montgomery (as DI Burton) and Lauren Edmonds (mostly as Fi Phelan, the journalist with the awkward questions) complete the cast with some panache.
All played out on an impressive set, the staging is remarkably close to the original, from the scribblings on the whiteboard to Scorziello’s rapid-fire quick changes, and a remarkable resemblance to Chaplin’s Great Dictator as The Maniac. After a slow beginning (why play The Clash’s ‘London Calling’, when you could have chosen the Sex Pistol’s ‘Anarchy In The UK’?), the piece picks up pace through the second act and especially into the breathless third act, in the true tradition of farce, with scenes-within-scenes being played out frantically in different parts of the stage all at the same time.
Scorziello has been a constant in the casts of TWC performances for 15 years, performing a range of roles as part of the impressive amateur theatre group’s company, from Miranda in a steampunk Shakespeare Tempest, to Wendy in Peter Pan, and a bravura performance more recently in Machinal. “Did she go to RADA?” Claudia asked as we were leaving. I explained that as far as I knew, Scorziello had never had the chance to go to drama school. “Extraordinary,” Claudia said as, somehow, we got back into the car. “Britain really has got talent,” she said.
Written by Steve Downes as ‘Bella Bartock’ for Inside Croydon and posted online 6 April 2025.
