Accidental Death of An Anarchist - Crucible/Lyric/TRH

Actually a co-production with the Lyric, Hammersmith, where it will be running from 13 March to 8 April 2023.

Playful Productions is also involved.

Yes I am booked to see this next Month! Also v much looking forward to it

Saw today's matinee, and this is brilliant, and brilliantly funny. It's also incredibly topical, and Daniel Rigby gives a legendary comic performance!

Some spoilers follow. . .

Daniel Rigby was one of the funniest characters in "One Man Two Guvnors," playing a particularly histrionic actor, and he could be playing the same character here, just less insecure lol.

Cos this is one of the most unrestrained balls out comic performances I've ever seen, and it never misses the mark, nailing every laugh, from the fourth wall breaking Brechtian asides to the audience, through mimicry, physical slapstick, disguises, funny outfits, multiple characters and accents, oodles of attitude, and a comic song par excellence.

The comic song, "Bella Ciao," appropriated by anti-fascists, (best known to me as the sentimental brotherly anthem of the bank robbers in Netflix's "Money Heist" lol) and clearly used here to tweak the same noses Gary Lineker was tweaking (but with added raucousness and explosive comic energy) is so funny I couldn't stop laughing.

But this is but one fleeting moment in a play so topical that almost every target seems ripped from current headlines: it mostly savages police brutality and corruption, but also class, government cynicism (the demonisation of small boats), insider journalists, and complacent audiences.

If there is a criticism to be made, it's simply that the humanity skewered is so irredeemable that the show guts hope and is depressing at its core, though it is evidently a call to action.

Tom Basden has done a phenomenal job making this old Italian play current and funny, and every actor nails their comic traits, with Tony Gardner's Superintendent as slippery as a snake, Jordan Metcalfe's Detective Daisy all muscle no brains, Howard Ward's Inspector a British reincarnation of Herbert Lom hunting Clouseau, and Ruby Thomas's reporter as entitled as entitled can be.

But ultimately it's Rigby to see this for. He gives an exceptionally versatile and unforgettably unrestrained comic performance.

4 and a half stars from me for a satire that fires on all comic cylinders, with a mighty sting in it's tail!

I saw this on Saturday and would echo and agree with the reviews above.

Very, very funny but thought provoking ( as all good satire should be) and felt so relevant - were times early on when I felt a bit uncomfortable at the audience laughing at some of the points, but that then made it all the more effective when later on the points about complacency of the audience also hit home.

Hope it does get a west end transfer as would be thoroughly deserved.

I really loved this. It’s incredibly funny, Daniel Rigby especially, but then after I came out of the theatre and started collecting my thoughts I realized it really gave a lot to think about. The set-up of Daniel Rigby’s character acting completely insane but seemingly having a complete grasp on everything is really interesting and manifests itself in many ways, one of my favorites being how his fourth wall breaks are acknowledged by the other characters. There’s the obvious “point” of the show with the whole police aspect, but it’s also interesting thinking about what it says about the world and how we see it.

None of that really matters though, it’s a great time, really funny. Would definitely recommend.

Saw it last week, one of the best and definitely the funniest play of the year, not seen the Lyric so full for a long time

Slightly spoilt by a sniffling / coughing person next to me, as we now get back to normal and exchanges are not routinely available for those who would have stayed at home during COVID will just have to accept that getting a cold every now and again is the price of being in a public space.

I loved this! Probably more than my two friends who felt that there were a bit too many contemporary references (and neither is a big comedy person). But they also really enjoyed it and said that this was the only fault they could find. I was in stitches for most of it, it is so funny. Daniel Rigby is absolutely brilliant, his delivery is super fast and loud, I have no idea how he manages to keep that energy for the duration. He speaks so fast that I am sure I missed some of the jokes, as each single thing he says is funny- but despite this I was still laughing my head off pretty much all the way through. Highly recommended & I hope it's extended.
Tobias Menzies and Alistair Campbell were there last night (and Mark Shenton the blogger).

Mark Shenton's newsletter today reports they are looking for a West End transfer but struggling to find an available venue.

Exactly

Looks like a West End transfer is coming.

Haymarket.
Soon