Review: Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Palindrome Theatre (2010-2013)
by David Glen Robinson
The Up Collective is in one of my favorite places, in East Austin, specifically at 2326 E. Cesar Chavez St. The name is easy to get—one has to walk upstairs to a second floor gallery where the play is performed. The art on the walls is really, seriously good and is priced like it, too. Palindrome Theatre's set is simple, designed for mobility. It has two standing door frames with no doors, a table and two chairs, a filing cabinet and two revolving set pieces representing windows. On one side of each of the painted windows there is a city dayscape; on the other side, a nightscape. Palindrome plans to travel The Accidental Death of an Anarchist to several indoor and outdoor locations, and the set by George Marsolek is well adapted to that plan.
The Accidental Death of an Anarchist is a famous farce by Dario Fo. The play is based on terroristic events and police corruption. The work is fictional, but it updates itself in every new production with references to contemporary events. The play premiered in Italy in 1970, found immediate popularity, and toured widely in Italy to play before millions of theatergoers. International productions kicked off in the 1980's. The Wikipedia article lists successful major productions in the UK, United States, Sri Lanka, India and China. As the world moved into the 21st century, the play caught on in Pakistan and Australia and saw more productions in Britain and the United States. This thing has legs.
Dario Fo is the ultimate Internationalist gadfly, set on this career early in life when he was drafted by Mussolini’s fascist army late in World War II. He soon deserted and, with his family, worked for the Resistance helping Allied soldiers escape the fascist forces. Can there be any doubt that these were his formative experiences, which taught him the language of defiance? He articulated this defiance and all that goes with it in his play writing and career in theatrical production, still going on today. The response to his work was near-uniform condemnation, criticism and outright suppression by governments, churches and mosques around the world. What was the outcome of the hostility of officialdom? In 1997, Fo was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his body of work.
Fo’s theatrical efforts have always been informed by early Renaissance Commedia dell’ Arte. The traditional presenters of the commedia performed as costumed characters in the streets, and they quickly discovered that their biggest laughs came from fart jokes (and other bawdiness) told about dukes, bishops, kings and popes. Hence Fo’s devotion to farce, improvisation, and references to government abuses. Fo encourages producers of his plays to add local references and to rewrite dialogues as commentary on contemporary issues. Give Austin’s small but active Commedia dell’ Arte community, Palindrome Theatre’s opening of a Fo play should find an informed and receptive audience.
So Palindrome Theatre did indeed open their production of The Accidental Death of an Anarchist in the Up Collective art gallery. And to its improvisation, satire, social criticism and lazzi you can add absurdism. Here’s a theatre tip if you need one: anytime the characters enter wearing red clown noses, that’s absurdism. The Accidental Death of an Anarchist offered us that and the entire list in abundance, all bundled into a play of intense physical comedy. Wikipedia said Fo was influenced by the old Commedia dell’ Arte. What an understatement. The play was like nothing more than a Commedia street scenario with fart jokes, mistaken identities and bawdiness, all updated to the modern world. Palindrome performed it with expert comedic timing. The audience peed itself with laughter.
What is it about jokes that work every time, simple and good, like one about the rat trap in the filing cabinet? Answer: they involve human suffering and pain. And the pain in this play is an undercurrent that gradually rises like the sweat on the actors, washing down the stairs and into the police-ridden streets. The theme of police abuse in service to class warfare needed little updating from 1960s Europe to 21st century Austin, Texas. That is saddening and I think also it is why director Nigel O’Hearn’s updating of the text was so seamless with Fo’s that it needed a line of text to demarcate it—“That is not Dario Fo!” shouted by reporter Feletti (Lindsley Howard). Most clever.
The acting was entirely over-the-top, as required by the farce. This style of performance is remarkable and difficult; but in this age of naturalistic acting, The Method, and Reality TV, critical recognition of the form is scarce and slow in coming. In fact, many companies and audiences eschew farce entirely. Not me. I think the ensemble worked beautifully together, led by The Maniac (Noel Gaulin). Gaulin gets to that special place with ease and skill. Another important issue with going over-the-top and staying there is that the form takes a huge amount of energy from the actor. Full disclosure: I was a performer with the first incarnation of the Austin Commedia Society for about four years. This is only to say that I know whereof I speak. So my prescription for the actors is to get good food and good rest for the duration of the run. No partying until the B. Iden Payne awards ceremony. I think they’ll definitely be there.
I want everyone to see this play in the brief time that it is up. If you are considering going to live theatre as the antidote to the many unsatisfying and expensive pastimes out there, Palindrome’s The Accidental Death of an Anarchist is the first choice. Please find it and go. The humor is accessible, and the admission is free or by donation in any amount. The production shows plainly the benefits and satisfactions of live theatre.
Palindrome Theatre is a most deserving bunch of talented folks. Donate well. Any amount you pay is an investment in your own happiness.
Review by Dan Solomon for the Austin Chronicle, May 24
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Accidental Death of an Anarchist
by Dario Fo
Palindrome Theatre (2010-2013)
