It was surely only a matter of time before Tom Basden’s well-received, modern adaptation of ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’ made it on to the West End. The hype coming from previous runs in Sheffield and Hammersmith have earned this tour de force a Summer season at London’s beautiful Theatre Royal Haymarket, and it is so deserved.

Legendary farce writer Dario Fo wrote the original play back in 1970 upon hearing the true story of a man who fell out of a police tower block window during interrogation. But this is an up-to-date rewriting by Tom Basden, who brings modern day references of Meghan Markle, Elon Musk and Daniel Radcliffe (to name but a few) right to the core of the piece. Together with present-day language and statistics thrown in about the Met, (“less than 1% of complaints about the police lead to disciplinary action”), this is a jarring, suddenly dark production which leaves you travelling from bursts of laughter to solemn, thought-provoking moments of the real outside world.

Daniel Raggett’s slick and energetic direction leaves no time for breathing space. From the moment the curtain ‘rises’ (it doesn’t thanks to Anna Reid’s gloriously open set design), the show goes full pelt through absurdism, pantomime, satirical comedy and of course farce. Reid’s design also deserves credit for a wonderful scene change in which we are transitioned to the floor above by actors changing digital numbers and altering the view from the window, right in front of the audience’s eyes. A tiny moment which was outstandingly pleasant to watch.

Raggett’s fast moving direction is a joy and the cast are explosive in their pace and delivery. Maybe a moment or two to let laughs land with the audience would’ve been appreciated, as any spoken words following punchlines were often lost. But this lively production relies mostly on the central character of ‘The Maniac’ and Daniel Rigby is just sublime in the role. He breaks the stage and audience divide throughout with asides to the crowd, improvised ad-libs and even an initial exchange, “Do you believe in the fourth wall? Well, too late”, as he throws his overcoat to an involuntary member of the front row. He barely leaves the stage and blitzes through the piece with hilarious vigour and energy that the audience almost want to give a standing ovation at the interval.

A strong supporting cast, including an impressive high-octane performance by Tony Gardner as Superintendent Curry, leave the production in safe hands and leave the audience in fits of laughter. The standing ovation wasn’t far behind.

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