Sheffield Theatres will premiere a brand-new adaptation of Dario Fo’s classic play Accidental Death of an Anarchist adapted by Tom Basden, comedian, actor and writer of the recent hit BBC comedy Here We Go.
Dario Fo’s satire is a farcical examination of institutional power – where a police headquarters undertakes a judicial review of the death of an ‘accidental’ death of a suspect in custody weeks earlier. A really timely examination of our police powers and how they regulate themselves. BAFTA Award-winning comic actor Daniel Rigby (pictured, who has worked with Tom previously) will play The Maniac – who dupes the police into performing a farcical recreation of the incident, exposing the absurd corruption and terrifying idiocy at the heart of the system.
This major new production will run at Sheffield Theatres’ Studio Theatre from Friday 23 September – Saturday 15 October 2022. The final feature length episode of Tom’s hit ITV comedy Plebs will also debut this autumn, he also wrote and starred in the BBC 2 comedy Here We Go alongside Katherine Parkinson, Jim Howick and Alison Steadman. A member of the British four-man sketch comedy group Cowards, Tom has written and performed for comedy shows on Channel 4’s Peep Show and often collaborated with fellow Cowards member Tim Key.
Dario Fo (Writer) an Italian actor-author, can claim to be one of the most frequently performed living playwright in the world. Born on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy in 1926, he made his debut in theatre in 1952 and was writing, performing and painting until 15 days before his passing, on October 16th, 2016. His work has gone through various phases, always in company with his actress wife Franca Rame. His stage career began with political cabaret, moved on to one-act farces, and then to satirical TV and in Italy’s major theatres. In 1968, he broke with conventional theatre to set up a co operative dedicated to producing politically committed work in what were then known as ‘alternative venues’. His best known work, including Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Mistero Buffo and Trumpets and Raspberries, date from this period. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997, and the official citation the Swedish Royal Academy stated that he had ‘emulated the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.’
Tom Basden (Adaptor) is a three-time BAFTA nominated writer. His work for theatre includes Party (Sydney Festival and Arts Theatre), Joseph K (Gate Theatre), There Is A War (National Theatre), Holes (Edinburgh Festival and The Arcola) and The Crocodile (Manchester International Festival). He has won an Edinburgh Comedy Award for his stand-up shows. On screen, Tom writes and stars in the sitcoms Here We Go for BBC1 and Plebs for ITV2 and is a regular cast member in After Life for Netflix. Tom has also written episodes of Peep Show, Fresh Meat and The Wrong Mans. For Radio 4, Tom has made two series of the sketch show Cowards, three series of his sitcom Party and five series of Tim Key’s Late Night Poetry Programme.
Daniel Raggett (Director) most recently directed ANNA X by Joseph Charlton as part of Sonia Friedman’s 2021 RE:EMERGE season in the West End. The production starred Golden Globe Award-winner Emma Corrin in the title role and was met with rave reviews, before being broadcast on Sky Arts. Previously, Daniel adapted and directed Jean Cocteau’s The Human Voice for the Gate Theatre (Nominated for Best Director, Off West End Awards). He has also directed productions of Anna Karenina and Mary Stuart at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Daniel has worked extensively as an associate director on productions at the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway, including as associate director to Ivo van Hove on West Side Story (Broadway) and Network (Broadway/National Theatre). Further credits as associate include: Noises Off (West End); All About Eve (West End); Mary Stuart (West End/Almeida/UK Tour); Hamlet (Almeida) and 1984 (West End/Broadway).
Daniel Rigby (The Maniac) is an accomplished actor and comedian who trained at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He has since starred in several popular television series including Charlie Brooker's acclaimed Black Mirror, BAFTA winning show Flowers for Channel 4, BBC’s Big School and Sick Note for Sky Atlantic. His performance as Eric Morecambe in Eric and Ernie for the BBC lead to him winning the Best Actor Award at the BAFTA Television Awards, 2011. Other credits include ITV's Plebs and Jericho and Agatha Christie’s Marple: A Caribbean Mystery for the BBC. In theatre, Daniel is known for One Man, Two Governors and Twelfth Night (National Theatre), Frost/Nixon and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sheffield Crucible) and more recently, Noises Off (Lyric Hammersmith and the West End). Most recently Daniel has worked on The Witchfinder opposite Daisy May Cooper and Tim Key from Baby Cow Productions for BBC2, Bafta nominated show Landscapers alongside Olivia Colman and David Thewlis for HBO Max. Daniel will next be seen in Tom Jones directed by Georgia Parris for ITV Studios.
STUDIO THEATRE
Friday 23 September – Saturday 15 October 2022
Press performance Thursday 29 September 2022, 7pm
A Sheffield Theatres Production
ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST
By Dario Fo and Franco Rame
Adaptor Tom Basden
Director Daniel Raggett
Designer Anna Reid
Casting Director Lotte Hines
Buy tickets here.
