The Chinese version of Nobel laureate Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist has become a signature work for Meng Jinghui, one of the country's most popular experimental theater directors.

 

 

As usual, Meng's production is marked by captivating music, punk-rock lighting, surreal stage and costume designs, and lines relatable for domestic theatergoers. Even if you know the script already, Meng introduces new elements; if not, don't worry, because Meng leads you through the exciting, hilarious and piercing story.

 

 

The play starts in a psychiatric institution, where a patient with amnesia is accused of desertion during war. However, a woman named Luisa comes to claim him as her lover, Giovanni, and brings him back home. But then the real Giovanni, a rogue and doppelganger to the patient, comes back from the battlefield and continues his life of crime - while scheming to blame his misdeeds on the amnesiac.