Inny teatr polityczny – rozważania wokół inscenizacji sztuki Przypadkowa śmierć anarchisty Dario Fo w Teatrze Powszechnym w Warszawie

Abstract

This article examines the November 2023 staging of Accidental Death of an Anarchist, directed by Michał Zadara at Warsaw’s Powszechny Theatre. The production is classified as political theatre, notable for its engagement with urgent social issues. At the same time, the analysis underscores the performance’s distinctive aesthetic-particularly in contrast to Zadara’s earlier works-arising from its deliberate use of the mocking conventions of farce. The discussion explores the farcical techniques employed in the staging while identifying additional theatrical influences shaping its form: the improvisational tricks of commedia dell’arte, Brecht’s distancing effect, Dario Fo’s own tradition of committed theatre, and the reductio ad absurdum characteristic of Sławomir Mrożek’s plays. This formal analysis illuminates the production’s central political message, which addresses police abuse in Poland and advocates for systemic reform-especially measures that restore civic rights to marginalized and excluded groups.