Farce and fascism meet in this tale of the difficulties of concealing the corpse of a world-famous dictator.
It’s Italy in 1946. People huddle over newspapers, shock on their faces. Then in the middle of the stage, a bowler hatted man shouts, ‘they’ve stolen Mussolini!’ A cry that would get anyone’s attention – and it certainly did grab that of the audience in the Bridewell Theatre.
The play (helpfully also called They’ve Stolen Mussolini) is a farce about this real-life event, whereby the body of Benito Mussolini, Fascist dictator of Italy, was stolen by fervent neo-Fascists Domenico Leccisisi (played by Franziska Szinovatz) and two sidekicks. Along with the fanatical leader there is the aggressive Mauro Rana (Tisa Kliček) and the nervy, fresh-faced latest member Antonio Parozzi (Lottie Dunkley),
mainly in it for the uniforms. Their cheerleader is the wife of Rana, Sylvia, a voluptuous blonde who adores Mussolini in ways that aren’t strictly platonic, hilariously played by Sunny-Lee van Djik.
The young cast all bring an enthusiasm and energy to the story, zipping on and off the stage, and occasionally colliding with the police, German army and some emotional monks, multi-roled by Alana Dare and Ellie Mather. The cast commit fully to the farce of the ridiculous events that unfold, which involve the dead corpse’s leg being ripped off and a drunk monk singing opera. With no set and a simple story, the play heavily relied on the actors’ skills to bring alive a script that mostly zinged along and occasionally stagnated. There were some great one-liners and moments of physical comedy – it’s testament to the engagement of the audience how loud the audible in-breath was when the leg was torn off the brown-paper corpse.
The play also did a good job of highlighting the absurdities of fanaticism and the ridiculous motivations of its ardent believers. It shows its petty roots, stemming from personal dissatisfaction and a desire to feel important or find some way of being accepted. These moments of more serious social commentary worked best indirectly – when one of the monks did an earnest speech at the end about the evident
dangers of fanatical hatred it felt ill at ease with the lightness of the rest of the play, that is more poking fun at the ridiculousness of its proponents than dwelling on the pain and suffering caused by its terrifying principles.
The story lends itself well to dark comedy, and Luke Walden’s script bought out a lot of its comic potential, whilst also showing the dark heart of fascism. The characters are muddling through a world they don’t understand, and their response is delusion and hero-worship, in an enjoyable evening of farce.
They’ve Stolen Mussolini is at the Bridewell Theatre from the 7-9th August. Tickets
linked here.