It's 1983, a teacher has died at the hands of the S.P.G. and amid public outcry a complainant is able to impersonate a senior investigating officer and put the wind up the filth. Only it's 1991, few remember Blair Peach, the S.P.G. has long since been wound up and the real Accidental Death Of An Anarchist has just been staged at the National. If Michele Celeste's tenth-rate retread was written at the time, why has it taken so long to première? If it's newly written, why bother? Righteous ire is no excuse for a poor show. Trite, derivative and dated in those places where its sloppy farce is comprehensible, the only originality lies in casting ex-Bloolip Marge Mellow as heroine Carole; his skills are wasted in what turns out to be a complete travesty.
Written for City Limits magazine.
Copyright © Ian Shuttleworth; all rights reserved.
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