Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Written by Dario Fo

Presented by Epicentre Theatre Company at Zenith Theatre, Chatswood

Directed by Constantine and Michael Costi

Reviewed by Catherine Hollyman

This was always going to be a difficult sell for me given I’m not the biggest fan of slapstick theatre. For those who are though, this is a slick production full of quick-witted dialogue, well-choreographed ‘routines’, and laughs aplenty. The applause at the end of the show was rapturous and rightly so.

Directors and brothers Constantine and Michael Costi have obviously worked hard to finesse every minute detail. In some parts, this choreography gave way to depth of performance as you could see the actors thinking about where they were standing and had to be next, rather than being ‘in the moment’. But in the main, the timing was spot on and the pace of the performance kept up with the frenzy of Dario Fo’s writing which firmly falls into the ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ category.

Like any good absurdist play, you’ll often find yourself asking what on earth is going on. Don’t dwell on it too much though – as quickly as things go off on a tangent, they are shaken up and fall back down again in a surprising logical ludicrousness. This is often thanks to the deadpan one-liners and facial expressions of the naive Constable, played by Stephen Lloyd Coombs and definitely the standout of the evening for me.

Booking Information

Dates:Weds 27^th, Thurs 28^th, Fri 29^th, Sat 30th

Venue: Reginald Theatre @ Seymour Centre

Book: www.epicentretheatre.org.au / 02 9777 7547