Accidental Death of an Anarchist is based loosely on the real-life tragedy of an Italian railway worker accused of terrorism. The suspect was pushed or leaped to his death from a window while being detained in an Italian police station. The suicide, actual or ''accidental',' becomes the propeller for what Fo described as a “grotesque farce”, a low comedy about hysteria in high places, where the audience is taken on a high energy journey full of puns, double takes, mistaken identities, and pratfalls.