Amber McMahon in Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Photo: Daniel Boud
In a world of ‘fake news’, rotating prime ministers and scandals of all kinds, Dario Fo’s 1969 comedy about corruption is as relevant as ever. Here, in the able hands of director Sarah Giles, it is presented as pure farce and is two hours of wonderful, brilliantly executed fun.
From the moment Amber McMahon takes the stage as the Maniac, it is high energy and high jinks. The lunatics are running the asylum here, and Giles’s decision to cast female actors to play all the male roles is brilliantly subversive in its own way and ups the satirical ante even further. In Fo’s highly political work, no one is as they seem, and with the exception of the unfortunate (and dead) anarchist, all are either corrupt, incompetent or liars – often all three. Giles is not saying women would necessarily do the jobs better, but hey, could they be any worse?
Bessie Holland, Susie Youssef, Amber McMahon and Caroline Brazier. Photo: Daniel Boud
This new adaptation by Francis Greenslade and Giles is clever and contemporary, revelling in the vernacular and wordplay. I loved the language and the slick delivery, especially McMahon’s. I defy anyone not to laugh.
Anarchist premiered in 1970, and was born of Fo’s anger and frustration at the corruption and obfuscation prevalent in post-war Italy. The anarchist of the title was undoubtedly framed by police and in 1969 fell/suicided/was pushed from a fourth-floor window after 72 hours of interrogation. Creating comedy from farce sounds very non PC, but Fo’s biting satire, intended as a counter-inquiry and to give voice to injustice and the dead man, was a brave and intensely political move. This is not the place for a history lesson on Italian politics but the STC program will bring you up to speed, if you so desire.
Back to this production. We meet the Maniac in a shabby office in the police HQ in Milan. Designer Jonathon Oxlade’s set is wonderfully evocative of the time, the long and large window through which we can glimpse the city skyline (and imagine defenestrations) is its main feature, but with lots of detail to take us back to 1970 (clunky phones, a black and white poster of Sophia Loren).
Julie Forsyth, almost unrecognisable (but for that distinctive voice) is the hapless Inspector Bertozzi, a lesser light in the forces of evil, but thoroughly – and comically, for us – frustrated by her inability to charge the Maniac with a crime. As the play progresses. McMahon’s Maniac, a bundle of manic energy and superb comic timing, has his/her own agenda. Donning a series of increasingly ridiculous disguises, the Maniac infiltrates the police ranks, professing to help while conducting his own inquiry into the Anarchist’s death and running rings around them in his exposé of truth (although not justice).
Susie Youssef, Caroline Brazier and Amber McMahon. Photo: Daniel Boud
It’s a stellar cast: joining McMahon and Forsyth are Caroline Brazier as the three-piece suited Superintendent, who thinks he is cleverer than he is; Bessie Holland as the thuggish and stupid Inspector Pisani; Susie Youssef as the pleasantly dumb Constable 2; and Annie Maynard, playing the only female role, as journalist Maria Feletti (looking every inch the 70s’ fashion plate with her perm, and tight-fitting flares and polo neck top), as well as a cameo as Constable 2. (In Act 2, there’s a brief scene where Feletti’s character is threatened by the Superintendent, who of course we know is a woman dressed as a man. In its warped way, for me this highlighted male/female intimidation in the workplace.)
Stefan Gregory’s sound design is significant, with trills and chimes emphasising the absurdities and slapstick humour, and as already noted, the wordplay. (“Free thinking? Is that freedom from thinking?”) Such a lot of fun in pursuit of truth in the Italy of 50/60 years ago.
Couldn’t happen again? Don’t make me laugh!
Accidental Death of An Anarchist, by Dario Fo, plays at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House until October 17.
