Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
September 14, 2018

In a post-truth world, Italian Nobel Laureate Dario Fo’s classic political farce Accidental Death of an Anarchist, dealing with corruption, cover-ups and the abuse of power, feels particularly timely – but that’s no doubt been said of every production of the play since it premiered in 1970.

In her production for Sydney Theatre Company, director Sarah Giles sets the play in period, designer Jonathan Oxlade creating a delightful set, playfully conjuring a run-down 70s Italian police station with a gritty office space complete with wilting indoor plant, posters (Sophia Loren, and a Playboy Bunny) corroded grey filing cabinet, antique electric fan, radio and so on. It’s a fun space to explore visually – there’s even a fishbowl with what appears to be a live Siamese Fighting Fish!

Amber McMahon in Sydney Theatre Company’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Photo © Daniel Boud

The centrepiece of Oxlade’s set is the panoramic window – from which the titular anarchist fell, jumped or was pushed, during an interrogation – looking out on a diorama Milanese cityscape, which lowers as the action moves from the third...