Theatre
Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Blue Box - M Space, Msida

Masquerade have managed to choose a particularly apt script which has aged well and has somehow maintained a connection with the current political climate. What is a cause for concern is precisely that a play written in 1970, highlighting the dangers of omertà and corruption, is still so very fresh and relevant today.

This production has made it clear that over a 49-year period, the world has either learnt nothing from its mistakes, or has regressed, or worst still, may not have changed at all.

Set in the police headquarters in a municipal building in Italy, a Maniac, played by the indefatigable Pia Zammit, enters Inspector Bertozzo’s (Gabriela Mendez) office and proceeds to infuriate him with his absurdities.

This Wise Fool follows a trope which spans millennia and has been used to highlight the flaws of humanity through the eyes of a man who appears foolish but actually holds up a mirror to society, showing them their folly.

Samatha Gauci’s bumbling constable/s, both played by the same actress, show that in all the lower cogs in an institution are made from the same mould – the less competent, the better.

Mendez gives us a self-important Bertozzo, who attempts to draw the audience’s sympathy for his honest diligence – a task Mendez accomplishes with a good understanding of her character’s motivations.

A masterful examination and exposition of how insane the system is

Fo’s mouthpiece is, of course, Zammit’s Maniac, whom she portrays with gusto and whose numerous and complex cues she executes to perfection.

The Maniac impersonates a court official in charge of the official inquiry into the accidental death of an anarchist who just so happened to fall out of the fourth-floor window of the police headquarters while he was being questioned.

As the wise fool of the piece, the Maniac questions and pushes the inspectors on the fourth floor to their limits, with the tough Inspector Pisani (Antonella Axisa) and the domineering Superintendent (Maria Christina Caruana) providing a dynamic duo of machismo and barely masked brutality, while journalist Feletti, played by Louiselle Vassallo, gets more than she bargained for when she becomes embroiled in the power play at their office.

The Maniac is also a convenient theatrical device in himself, frequently breaking the fourth wall, making meta-analytical observations about the play’s development, the audience and their attitudes, while asking them for their opinion.

Director Ian Moore’s choice, no doubt approved by the producers, to have an all-female cast impersonating men, was clever because it added yet another layer of tongue-in-cheek critique of the powers that be: that nobody is really who they claim to be, least of all the Maniac, who specialises in identity theft.

The play itself is a masterful examination and exposition of how insane the system is: how corrupt, how unjust and how utterly deplorable the lack of impunity in a system is, especially when abused by those who wish to serve.

Satire and farcical mayhem do not soften the critique but make it all the more apparent and urgent. This is especially significant in the current political climate, where futile superficial attempts at cleaning up the blatantly obvious flaws and irregularities are simply another reminder that in fact, plus ça change.

Accidental Death of an Anarchist is definitely one to watch and enjoy.

The play is being staged at Blue Box – M Space, Msida, today, tomorrow and on Sunday at 8pm.