Italian playwright Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist is the happy marriage of political commentary and slapstick comedy with a Catch-Me-If-You-Can-like character thrown in for good measure. The King’s production is fast, fun, furious and beautifully anchored by Griffin McInnes as the suitably manic central character “Maniac”. Fo’s script takes shots at everyone from the media to the justice system, and it leaves room for targeted attacks. (Last night there were several hilarious riffs on things like “that harpy Michaëlle Jean” and critical critics at The Coast.) The one down-side to such merriment is that some of the dialogue gets lost in the laughter, but there are still plenty of thought-provoking ideas to chew over in this farcical yet vitriolic show.
November 12 and 13 at 8pm at The Pit, Arts and Administration Building, University of King’s College, 6350 Coburg.
This article appears in Nov 11-17, 2010.