Morte accidentale di un anarchico (Accidental Death of an Anarchist) | Teatro Duse

From Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November 2026, the Teatro Duse presents Morte accidentale di un anarchico (Accidental Death of an Anarchist) by Dario Fo and Franca Rame.

In the year marking the centenary of Dario Fo’s birth, director Giorgio Gallione takes on one of the best-known works by the Nobel Prize-winning playwright. At the heart of the story is the episode that inspired Accidental Death of an Anarchist: the death of Giuseppe Pinelli, who fell from a window of Milan police headquarters on 15 December 1969 during questioning connected with the investigation into the Piazza Fontana bombing. The case remained at the centre of public and judicial debate at the time and was described in the investigations with the expression “active illness”.

Fo’s text grew out of a process of reconstruction based on court documents, investigative records and journalistic material. Through the form of tragic farce, the play brings together news events and theatrical representation, highlighting the contradictions that emerged within the investigations and the political debate of the time.

The dramatic structure revolves around the figure of the Maniac, a character who uses a comic and paradoxical device to question the official versions of events. Through disguise and shifting identities, the Maniac challenges mechanisms of power and institutional narratives.

In the work’s original context, Dario Fo’s production had a major cultural and civic impact, accompanied by significant public success as well as numerous controversies and tensions surrounding its performance.

In this new production, the role of the Maniac is played by Lodo Guenzi, who leads a staging built around comic rhythm, satire and an ensemble structure. The production engages with the tradition of Fo’s theatre, preserving its civic dimension while reworking it in a contemporary form.

The performance explores the relationship between truth, representation and power through a theatrical structure that alternates comic registers with moments of greater dramatic tension.

With Matteo Gatta, Eleonora Giovanardi, Alessandro Federico, Marco Ripoldi, Roberto Rustioni
Directed by Giorgio Gallione
Set design by Guido Fiorato
Lighting by Andrea Violato
Costumes by Francesca Marsella
Assistant set designer: Francesca Marsella
Assistant costume designer: Marisa Mantero
Assistant director: Riccardo Iellen
Set construction: Officina Scenotecnica Gli Scarti
Special thanks to Fondazione Dario Fo e Franca Rame
Graphic design by Nduja Design Studio, featuring an original drawing by Dario Fo