Review: ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST, Theatre Royal Haymarket

Only so many plays remain as directly and unfortunately relevant to the failure of the justice system as Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Premiered in 1970 and loosely based on real events and people, it saw the writers being sued over 40 times when it debuted. An exploration of the corruption of law enforcement and their propensity for bending the facts to their benefit, the comedy is a perfect fit in the current political climate.

After an anarchist has fallen to his death from the fourth-floor window of an interrogation room, the police are fighting off another scandal. When a kooky man is arrested, he jumps at the chance to dissect the events that led up to this alleged suicide. He unveils the sanctimony and outright stupidity of authoritative practices. Tom Basden reworks the material and sets it in modern-day England in an excellent example of what adaptation should be. The piece is unforgiving. It tears apart the Met Police, their brutal questioning techniques, gross negligence, finger-pointing, and the inherent duplicity of governmental affairs.

Coming all the way from Sheffield via the Lyric Hammersmith, it’s a refreshingly political addition to the West End. Basden translates the action without sacrificing the original spirit or timing, while Daniel Raggett directs with a bold vision that wouldn’t be as exciting without Daniel Rigby’s indefatigable, unimpeachable central performance. He has a Mephistophelian glint in his eyes as he wraps the policemen around his finger, revealing the malleability of testimonies and official documents. His miraculous endurance is supported by a handful of incredible supporting parts.

Tony Gardner is Superintendent Curry, prideful and opportunistic but cowardly, he barks orders all around; Tom Andrews gives Detective Daisy a Jason Statham-esque presence with a wide-legged strut and a short fuse, while Ro Kumar’s agent is, in turn, a meek low-rank bobby who’s regularly sent out for refreshments and is constantly put down by his superiors. Besides the main trio who act as exceptional foil to Rigby’s shenanigans, Mark Hadfield and Ruby Thomas add incidental hilarity and supplemental social critique.

Rigby is electrifying. A histrionic maestro, a master of manipulation with shape-shifting abilities, he breaks the fourth wall to engage directly with the audience (latecomers beware!). Unrestrained by conventional dramatic rules he offers a masterclass in comic tempo and pitiless taunting, the actor takes the visual, physical, semantic, and beautifully theatrical gags and absorbs them to become part of his own character. It’s Rigby’s world, and we’re merely living in it as guests.

The production's meta layering is exquisite and will hit different audiences according to their own stance on the matters. It appeases the politically intellectual “reconstructed liberals” as well as the unengaged comedy lovers. While the Grey Pound might show slight unrest at the sight of such an explosively anarchical sociopolitical satire, its subtle acumen and sneaky nuance are undeniable delights.

Anna Reid places the action in a skewed cube that allows plenty of brilliant coups de théâtre aided by Jai Morjaria’s lighting design. Anarchist doesn’t shoot blanks. It’s bold, audacious, and frighteningly topical cutthroat humour. It puts on blast the law enforcement ACAB-style, but it also calls out performative activism and social hypocrisy with laugh-out-loud wit. If you see one play in the West End this summer, make it this one.

Accidental Death of an Anarchist runs at the Haymarket Theatre until 9 September.

Photo credit: Helen Murray

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