This weekend, the LSU Theatre Studio Season opened the socially sarcastic Dario Fo play “Accidental Death of an Anarchist,” directed by M. Belle Caplis.
The six-person cast, consisting of all theatre majors, was inspired in the performance and drew the crowd to laughter and suspense with a minimal set and limited use of props.
Leicester Landon portrayed the clever main character who ends up taking over a police station and fooling the entire cast into believing he is an official that could question their integrity after being brought in on charges of fraud and false identity.
Blake Williams, who played Inspector Bertozzo, an easily angered stress magnet, was brilliantly furious the entire time he was on stage. His face was was nearly purple and drenched with sweat for two hours — it was a marvel.
Jonathon Butts played Captain Pisani, and displayed the character’s passive-aggressiveness pretty well, with the exception of unnecessary melodrama at times.
Stephen LaVergne was hilarious as the sergeant, a cowardly “yes man” who is influenced by most everyone that addresses him. LaVergne seemed to fit the role so well that it is hard to imagine him not becoming a successful character actor focusing on roles as weak, moldable personas.
Shauna Rappold, who played Chief Bellati, got a passing grade in her performance, but at points she seemed to go too far to make a scene work and could have left the action alone without pretentious looks or reactions that undermined her role.
Katrina Redmond, who played Reporter Feletti, was near perfect in her late entrance to the plot, playing a journalist who tries to figure out the cause of death of the anarchist along with the rest of the cast.
The play takes an interesting twist at the climax and ends abruptly, leaving the audience with a question not only of the responsibility for the anarchist’s death, but a social question about the responsibility of government and authority.
The play runs through Sunday, April 4, and the cost is a $6.00 donation.
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