This play was a political farce based on the true event of a police custody death in Milan, Italy in 1969. Playwright, Dario Fo, based his satirical performance on the hypocrisy of this true event and revealed the corrupt nature of law enforcers as they looked for creative and inventive ways to absolve themselves from any involvement.
Fo’s use of dramatic irony and sarcasm was reflected through the appearance of a simpleton clown character named the Maniac, who exposed the farfetched conspiracies of the police using pacey provocative dialogue and highly ludicrous comical moments. The Maniac was expertly played by Matthew Adams who owned the stage with his outrageous interpretation, taking creative risks and wowing his audience with his high energy performance. The antagonist comic duo was played by Shae Olsson Jones and Angus Porter who together would continuously slip up and expose their truly violent tendencies as the Superintendent and Inspector both responsible for the anarchist’s death. Sam Read’s excellent performance as Constable was highly comical with his ability to snap into a frozen expression to obey his superiors. Followed by the viper Journalist, Sam Read explored confrontational arguments to expose the truth. Leith Johnson skilfully played Bertozzo, the goofy ballistics expert, who was aware of the Maniac’s antics and would try every attempt to reveal his identity, only to be physically shut down by his colleagues in high energy slapstick humour.
Congratulations Year 12 Drama and to the technical crew involved on such a triumphant and memorable performance that was well received by their audiences and the Prince Alfred College community. Thank you to the Year 12 Drama class, the tech team and supporting parents and staff involved in making this production such a success.
