Accidental Death of an Anarchist : Theatre Royal, London
Jul 19, 2023 18:54:15 GMT
lugsbug likes this
Post by marion on Jul 19, 2023 18:54:15 GMT
I saw such brilliant reviews of this I decided to book immediately in case it proved to be the second One Man, Two Guv’nors and I would miss out yet again, 😂. I only managed to see that one on tour not at the National. This show isn’t quite that because it is a much more compact piece with only six actors and set in one room.
This is a reworking of Dario Fo’s 1970 political satire. An unnamed character known as The Maniac has been arrested and whilst being interrogated learns that the police are being investigated. He disguises himself as a judge and sets about exposing the corruption. Starring Daniel Rigby, this has been reworked and is set within the Metropolitan Police. It is a ferocious skewering of them and just about every other aspect of modern life really, including the audience! It plays at breakneck speed and you are still laughing when the next gag hits, and I didn’t manage to hear all of them. It was extremely funny but then a very serious point is made and you are brought up short.
Daniel Rigby was terrific as The Maniac. He basically carries the whole play and is so quick and funny, breaking the fourth wall a lot. The author does reference some of the Met’s more recent transgressions but I thought he trod the right line between farce and what could have been poor taste very deftly. After the curtain the stage shows a running total of deaths in police custody, which was sobering.
This was quite a full audience, all ages, and it was incredibly well received with a standing ovation for Daniel. I have since read up about Fo and his wife and had no idea they had such eventful and long lives. They were censored, banned from entering the US, denounced by the Vatican, loathed by Berlusconi and his poor wife was gang raped by Fascist thugs…. But in the 1970s not the war! He was a very prolific author but we only seem to get this one play produced in translation. I would go and see more, especially what sounds like totally bonkers reworkings of Shakespeare.
This is a reworking of Dario Fo’s 1970 political satire. An unnamed character known as The Maniac has been arrested and whilst being interrogated learns that the police are being investigated. He disguises himself as a judge and sets about exposing the corruption. Starring Daniel Rigby, this has been reworked and is set within the Metropolitan Police. It is a ferocious skewering of them and just about every other aspect of modern life really, including the audience! It plays at breakneck speed and you are still laughing when the next gag hits, and I didn’t manage to hear all of them. It was extremely funny but then a very serious point is made and you are brought up short.
Daniel Rigby was terrific as The Maniac. He basically carries the whole play and is so quick and funny, breaking the fourth wall a lot. The author does reference some of the Met’s more recent transgressions but I thought he trod the right line between farce and what could have been poor taste very deftly. After the curtain the stage shows a running total of deaths in police custody, which was sobering.
This was quite a full audience, all ages, and it was incredibly well received with a standing ovation for Daniel. I have since read up about Fo and his wife and had no idea they had such eventful and long lives. They were censored, banned from entering the US, denounced by the Vatican, loathed by Berlusconi and his poor wife was gang raped by Fascist thugs…. But in the 1970s not the war! He was a very prolific author but we only seem to get this one play produced in translation. I would go and see more, especially what sounds like totally bonkers reworkings of Shakespeare.
Anymore to come?
