'Accidental Death of an Anarchist' by Dario Fo - A Plot Summary

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‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’ by Dario Fo

 

A Plot Summary by Rosa Scheewe

ACT ONE

Scene 1

The play starts in an ordinary office. Inspector BERTOZZO explains to the audience that several weeks before an anarchist fell out of the window a few floors above while he was interrogated by the police about a bomb attack in a bank in Milan. His death caused public outrage although the police claimed it was ‘suicide’. After that he starts to interrogate MANIAC. We find out about more characteristics of MANIAC. He was arrested 11 times but he has never been convicted, because he suffers from a ‘histrionic mania’. In the following interrogation, that shows MANIAC’s intelligence, he confuses BERTOZZO and the CONSTABLE, who sometimes interjects a comment, until he threatens to throw himself out of the window. Then he is told to leave by BERTOZZO. After he does BERTOZZO and CONSTABLE leave as well. MANIAC re-enters and as he finds himself alone he starts to throw files about little criminals out of the window. This shows that he is an anarchist himself and an activist. So he is going to do something about the death of the anarchist and he is hardly afraid of anything. When the phone rings he doesn’t hesitate to answer it and finds Inspector PISSANI at the other end of the line. He talks to him, provokes him and makes BERTOZZO look like an idiot. After the phone call he starts to remove his disguise and dresses up as a judge using BERTOZZO’s coat and hat. He is caught by BERTOZZO and sent out again. The scene ends with BERTOZZO collapsing after he was hit in the face by PISSANI.

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Scene 2

The second scene starts in the office where the anarchist has fallen out of the window. MANIAC plays a judge now and that gives him authority to the policemen who he now starts to interrogate about the case of the anarchist. He asks PISSANI to get the SUPERINTENDENT to join them which he does. BERTOZZO is not there. MANIAC starts to confront PISSANI and SUPERINTENDENT with facts and quotes which make the whole explanation of the anarchist’s death look unreliable. He refers to the protocols, and press-interviews, which show distressing contradictions, pretending he is trying to ...

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