Name: Special Screening: Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Start: 2023-06-30T19:30:00+01:00
End: 2023-06-30T21:00:00+01:00
Location: Ruskin House

Special Screening: Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Ruskin House Film Screen

A unique opportunity to see this brilliant adaptation and performance  of  Dario Fo's play, plus Q&A with our special guest GAVIN RICHARDS

Ruskin House

<h3><strong>Review of Channel 4&#x27;s TV version:</strong></h3><h3><strong><em>&quot;﻿It was as refreshing to find this material hurled out of the box as it was to find a cast wholly new to television, led of course by Gavin Richards, whose talents are marvellously suited to the medium. Very few people can act and also deliver the material of a stand-up comic with the camera in close-up. Richards can. Moreover this production was the first completely successful example I can remember (there have been umpteen attempts) of the Brechtian technique of showing the studio complete with technicians and barracking audience in order to avoid the viewer&#x27;s suspension of disbelief. It worked brilliantly well: the jokes were funny but you were never allowed to forget the true purpose of the piece for long.&quot;</em></strong><strong> (Chris Dunkley, Financial Times, September 1983) </strong></h3><h2>D﻿ario Fo&#x27;s play, written in 1970, is a sharp, hilarious satire on police corruption in Italy. It&#x27;s based on the real case of a railway worker, accused of railway-station bombings, who &#x27;fell&#x27; from a fourth floor window at the Milan police headquarters in 1969. It plays on the tension between the real death of a suspect and the farcical efforts of the authorities to explain it. Many attempts were made by the Italian government and local police chiefs to prevent performances of Dario Fo&#x27;s play, which toured Italy. But it was seen by one million people in four years. The play was frequently updated as new information emerged from court cases, some involving the prosecution of journalists.</h2><h2>G﻿avin Richards (whose later TV appearances include <em>&#x27;Allo Allo&#x27;</em> and &#x27;<em>Eastenders&#x27;</em>) adapted the play, from an English translation. He enjoyed great success directing it, as well as playing the lead, during a long West End run in 1980-81. He was also nominated for an Olivier award. Two years later, Channel 4 broadcast an excellent studio production, an off-air recording of which has been licensed for screening by the BFI, under the Performers&#x27; Alliance Agreement (PAA*). </h2><h2>Richard&#x27;s adaptation can no longer be performed in the theatre and Channel 4 will not re-broadcast. This is therefore a unique opportunity for an audience to enjoy the shared experience of this brilliant theatrical performance on our large screen, and to hear from Gavin Richards after the screening.</h2><h3>*Under PAA regulations, members of Equity; the Writers&#x27; Guild of Great Britain; and the Musicians&#x27; Union are entitled to a discount on ticket prices. On production of one of these union membership cards, a refund of £1 will be given on admission. </h3><p></p><p></p><p>  </p>

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