Accidental Death of An Anarchist

by Tom Basden (Adapter), Dario Fo, Franca Rame

An irrepressible fraudster known only as the Maniac is brought into Police Headquarters just as the officers are preparing for a judicial review of the recent 'accidental' death of a suspect in custody. Outwitting his captors, the Maniac dupes them into performing a farcical recreation of the incident, exposing the absurd corruption and terrifying idiocy at the heart of the system. Dario Fo and Franca Rame's riotous satire,  Accidental Death of an Anarchist , has been widely performed around the world since its premiere in 1970. Tom Basden's hilarious, bang-up-to-date adaptation was first performed at Sheffield Theatres in September 2022.

Genres: Humor, Plays, Fiction

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2023

About the author

Tom Basden (b. England, 1980) is a British actor and comedy writer, and a member of the British four man sketch group Cowards. He has written and performed extensively for comedy shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and often collaborates in two-man shows with fellow Cowards member Tim Key.

Basden was educated at King's College School, an independent school for boys in Wimbledon in South West London (in the same year group as actors Khalid Abdalla and Ben Barnes), followed by Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge. He was vice president of the Footlights and his contemporaries included Stefan Golaszewski, Sarah Solemani, Tim Key and Dan Stevens.

Basden's one man show at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Tom Basden Won't Say Anything won the if.comedy award for Best Newcomer. He also starred with Tim Key in the short film The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island, which won the UK Film Council Kodak Award for Best British Short Film.
Basden replaced Tim Minchin as the resident musician for the second series of Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better where he appears along with Tim Key and Mark Watson.
He was a guest panellist on the BBC Two programme "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" on Wednesday, 4 November 2009.

In 2011 he wrote There Is A War starring himself and Phoebe Fox for the National Theatre's Double Feature.
In 2012, he appeared as musical side-kick to Key in his Radio 4 programme Tim Key's Late Night Poetry.
From 2010 to 2012 Basden has written and starred in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Party. It also stars Key, Jonny Sweet, Anna Crilly and Katy Wix and has just finished its third series.

Reviews

[lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

wtf is this funky adaptation

[Thomas Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went ahead and blitzed through my quick and easy to read copy of the accident and accidental death of an anarchist, an excellent play that I was able and fortunate to see in London's West End when I was visiting the city, recommended by a friend of mine a fantastic recommendation, a delightful play that both has a message and has a lead actor who breaks the fourth wall, talks to the audience constantly and almost a joke a minute as truly a hilarious satire and a takeoff of how many people keep dying in police custody. Not a funny subject, but they make it hilarious, then turning the corner back at the end to come back to the all important message of the play, too many people are dying in police custody, a updated version of an Italian anarchist classic, truly wonderful to read again and to be reminded of how funny it was being there and how quick the lead actor was dancing around the police, two steps ahead of them at all times, and then how excellently the comedy and the joy and the clarity of the evening came together into the message projected on the back wall of the theater of how Many people had died in police custody in the United Kingdom since 1965 something like that. It was 1000s. It's incredibly out of control, but as the play said, maybe they just fell out the window, or maybe they jumped I definitely enjoyed an accidental death of an anarchist. Reading the play was almost as good as seeing the play in London. I would suggest it to anyone who hasn't read it, and I think it should be revised it revived and go around the world, as much as possible, just a wonderful treat of a play. Thank you for reading.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

[Oscar Dent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Basden is a genius. Having read most (if not all) of his previous works I feel I have a solid grasp on his efforts. I went to see this play 3 times (I'm not mad, I just loved it the first time then had to take various people so that I could share the brilliance).

In equal measures I think that the written script does not live up to the performance and vice versa. The sheer physicality of the show cannot fully be described in the text, and the speed and wit of the jokes comes at you too fast to take it in when watching the show.

This is a fantastic play, with silliness and bite in equal measure. As with previous Basden plays, this seemed to be put on not long before major news along the lines of what is parodied/foretold. If I had a criticism, some of the "modern references" seem thrown in unnecessarily; for example there was a line about Avatar 2 that was oddly specific and superfluously dating (I felt).

Please read this, and if it's ever put on again, you must see it.

[Ross Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot-wise, there's not much to summarize. A "maniac" shows up at police HQ and proceeds to lead them by the nose through a variety of subterfuges. Then again, it's a farce, so plot isn't really the point. I can't compare this adaptation with the original, but it's definitely up to date with it's embedded references ("Event Sting doesn't take this long to climax.")

The point, is to illustrate the various ways in which the police are corrupt, and as the news headlines show us, not a lot has changed since Fo wrote the piece, and it's well deserving of a new audience. This adaptation is very British, it would be fun to see an American adaption from Paul Beatty or another Black American writer.

[Wing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This London adaptation is, well, very London-centric. I am an Australian but I do follow UK news and am superficially aware of the problems that the Met faces. However, I don’t think I can appreciate all the references. In having said that, this adaptation is at the same time very funny and very profound. The Maniac’s indictment of the “reconstructed liberals” (p.81) and his final speech (p.86) are particularly arresting. This adaptation does make references to the Italian original. That itself and the real events that it is based on (allegedly) are also pretty interesting.

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An utterly brilliant, hilarious farce that brings the 1970s Italian original to 2020s Britain without losing a scrap of the wit and craziness.

It requires a huge effort on the part of the leading man (the Maniac) and perfect timing by all the cast.

The only flaw is the two-minute speech at the end, which crosses the line from satire into outright politics, but that doesn't detract from a fabulous night's entertainment.

[Grace Gay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious adaptation of the original play. It was funny to be watched and funny to read, whilst also drawing thoughtful attention to rates of police violence in the metropolitan police and more widely police violence at a global scale

[angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The script for the play left such a vibrant impact on me. It contained well-timed comedic shots and the characters are a dynamic bunch. Gavin Richards is a versatile actor.

[Milla Capelouto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little on the nose at times but overall very entertaining. The Maniac flirting the entire time was perfect.

[Bex!! · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so good. A really incredible adaptation of Fo's original. Literally just finished it so more articulate thoughts incoming.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this translation over Nye's! Very funny and captured the essence of British humour, though it did make me need to explain to Y13s what soggy biscuit is...

[Adrian Rowlands · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had such a blast reading this. I never believe anyone when they call a text “laugh-out-loud” but this had me giggling. Such a cleverly written adaptation. Hope I get to see it on stage someday.

[Poppi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not a fan of the contemporary references but I think my opinions of them would be different if I was watching the play compared to reading it.