Drama/BertoltBrecht/Formandstructure

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                 ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’ - Form and Structure

On December the 12th 1969 a bomb exploded in a Milan bank, killing more than 16 people, the blame was immediately put on the anarchists, the state’s scapegoat. One anarchist, Pinelli, miraculously 'flew' out of a fourth-floor window during questioning by police. The death was labelled suicide and the anarchists made public enemy no.1. The play 'Accidental Death of an Anarchist', although rooted in tragedy, is overall, a comedy. It uses facts and documents from the massacre investigation and turns them on their heads. Dario Fo labelled his play as a 'Farce of power'. The term ‘farce’, refers to a form of comedy in which plot and situations are exaggerated, the effects often being ridiculous. Although the subject is rather serious and has an awful background, the audience is confronted with comedy elements throughout the play which still has an underlying social commentary.

In some ways, the play follows the “typical” structure of an exposition, encounters, conflicts and complications and climax but it has a deliberately ambiguous resolution.

STRUCTURE

Exposition -

Fo deliberately uses a short exposition. Bertozzo directly addresses the audience, introduces himself and gives a brief overview of the concerns around an anarchist suspect ‘falling’ to his death. This description allows the audience prior knowledge of the circumstances that the play deals with, without giving away the whole story. This awareness of events helps Fo communicate his intentions and some prior knowledge is needed for a number of the messages in the play to be really appreciated. Fo's use of dramatic irony and his satirical ‘take’ on events works well as he is relying on the audience having some familiarity with the context of the play.

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Encounter One -

The first encounter introduces us to the character known only as the Maniac, who looks like the clichéd idea of a disciple of Freud: wild hair, thin spectacles, goatee beard, shabby suit or mac. He is introduced to us as quite a flamboyant character which very much contrasts with the characteristics of Bertozzo, who seems quite plain and straight forward. The Maniac seems to stir things up as soon as he enters the play. He manages to confuse the police which, I felt, was used to make the audience aware of the Maniac’s intelligence compared to ...

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