Theatre review: Accidental Death of an Anarchist

The Italian satirist Dario Fo is considered one of the great playwrights of the twentieth century, but his work is very rarely seen in London. The new version of Fo and Franca Rame's most famous work, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, both makes it seem incredible that their names aren't better-known, and at the same time provides an explanation for why they're rarely on our stages: Making their stuff work as well as it does here is a Herculean feat that could easily go very wrong. The latest transfer to suggest Robert Hastie's Sheffield Theatres is the venue to watch at the moment, Tom Basden's adaptation takes the 1970 play about police brutality and gives it a painfully up-to-date relocation to the present-day Metropolitan Police, with barely a real-life scandal or damning statistic left unmentioned. Daniel Rigby plays The Maniac, a compulsive liar who takes the quote "All the world's a stage" literally - he believes he's got a permanent audience.

Theatre review: Holes

Some productions seem to appear with perfect timing while others have the worst; it's certainly the latter when a black comedy about a plane crash coincides with news of a real one. So there's a certain amount of blocking out unfortunate associations to be done here, but Holes deserves it. Tom Basden's writing has gone from the witty, silly Party, which also became a Radio 4 sitcom, to darker absurdism including adapting Kafka for the stage. Both styles are apparent in his latest play which had an Edinburgh run last year and now comes, slightly rewritten, to the Arcola's infrequently-used third space, the Tent. I'd not seen anything here before, and it turns out to be a fun space, in the round and feeling a bit like a small circus tent, although the constant noise of traffic, Overground trains and even a gospel choir may explain why it usually houses comedy or music rather than straight plays.