This thesis document is a portion of the capstone assignment for the Professional Director Training Program. It specifically includes the text analysis and director’s concept for Dario Fo’s Accidental death of an anarchist. The show was produced and ran via Zoom and vMix April 8-11, 2021 as part of the School of Drama’s mainstage digital season through the University of Washington.

A new translation of Fo's play which aims to be faithful to the clear-sighted insanity of the original. The author's other plays include "Mistero Buffo", "Trumpets and Raspberries" and "Archangels Don't Play Pinball".

Fo's subversive drama is based on a true-life story: a prisoner falls from a window at police headquarters which triggers a chain of events exposing the judicial and police corruption of 1970s Italy.

A satire on police corruption in Italy. Anarchist railway worker Giuseppe Pinelli was said to have jumped from a police headquarters window to his death - past seven policemen.

Dario Fo's classic farce Accidental Death of an Anarchist was a sensation when it premiered in Italy in 1970. Based on the story of a political activist who ""fell"" to his death from the window of a police station, the original production was seen by over half a million people. This incisive satire on police corruption, media manipulation and political shenanigans is here translated by Simon Nye. This version of Accidental Death of an Anarchist premiered at the Donmar Warehouse, London in February 2003. ""A marvellous concept: a zany political farce..."" Michael Billington, Guardian""Fo's play absorbs social indignation into mainstream Italian comedy"" The Times