Dario Fo is an playwright who was involved at Half Moon Theatre between 1978 and 1989.
The Half Moon Theatre Company performed three of Dario Fo’s works, but there was also a celebrated production of his play Accidental Death of an Anarchist, by Belt and Braces, in 1979, which transferred to the Wyndham’s Theatre.
Photo of Dario Fo at the Venice Film Festival, 1985, by Gorupdebesanez, via Wikimedia Commons.
“I came with my wife and sister to see a production of Accidental Death of An Anarchist with Alfred Molina leading. He gave a terrific performance and the whole production was vibrant and energetic. Fifteen or twenty minutes into the show, a bloke sitting in the second or third row got up, put his coat on, and left. Molina didn’t miss a beat, stepped straight out of character and said: “There’s nothing better anywhere else, mate”. He acknowledged the gale of laughter and stepped straight back in, seamlessly. He is the real thing and I’ve watched his career ever since, seeing as much of his work as I could. Later, when I was working with the Theatre Writers Union (now defunct) and running small-scale theatre companies, I always kept that evening in mind as an exemplar of the need for theatre to be quick-witted and fluid.”
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