Welcome to the world of Dario Fo (1926-2016) at Port Townsend High School (PTHS). Don’t worry. His world is not as unfamiliar as the playwright’s name.

Fo’s “The Accidental Death of an Anarchist” takes place in a neighborhood where your basic fascists and anarchists just happen to live down the street from each other. This is Italy in the 1960s.

“Our homeland is the whole world. Our law is liberty. We have but one thought, revolution in our hearts,” Fo is quoted as saying.

One can picture the Marx brothers confronting our own “alt-right” authoritarianism as documented by a left-wing theatrical jack-of-all-trades. Definitely wacky. Dangerously timely. And based on a true (not a fake) event.

“On Dec. 12, 1969, a bomb exploded in the Agricultural Bank of Milan, killing 16 people and wounding many others. The anarchists were immediately blamed for the slaughter. One of them, Giovanni Pinelli, having been taken to the police headquarters, ‘fell’ out of a fourth floor window and later died from his injuries” as described in the PTHS program.

BREAD AND CIRCUSES

Fortunately, Fo was Italian, one of those cosmopolitans who have possessed savory recipes for combining politics and farce ever since the “bread and circuses” days of Rome in 240 B.C. “It is hard for power to enjoy or incorporate humor and satire in its system of control,” is another quotation from Fo. Centuries later, Italian theater followed up those bread and circuses days with the sweet bombolone of commedia dell’arte.

More recently was the satiric treatment of the overstuffed pomposity of Italy’s self-aggrandizing leader of the Partito Nazionale Fascista (1922-1943), Mussolini, who once claimed, “A nation of spaghetti eaters cannot restore Roman civilization!” He is also quoted as saying: “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power,” as well as, “Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice, it is a fallacy. You in America will see that someday.”

OFFSTAGE TALENT

Jennifer Nielsen, the artistic director at Port Townsend High School, deserves much credit for serving up Fo’s daring fare. She takes full advantage of her huge stage at PTHS, allowing for expansive action centering around a modest desk at police headquarters.

Two large lamps loom overhead, adding cartoon-like credibility to the incredible proceedings below. The recorded pre-show music (by Tyler Nelson) sets a pleasant tone. More music during the group comic sequences might have paid off as well. The lighting design (by Steve Arbuckle) keeps up with the fast pace. The daunting costume design (by Karen Forbes) ages teenagers appropriately. Likewise, the preposterous makeup and hair design (by Michele Soderstrom and Violet Moell) comes in handy.

THE ACTING

The actors are amusing in Act I. When their lines are projected clearly and forcefully, the audience is drawn into the basic dilemma. By Act II, things are cooking on all burners, and the audience is laughing much more.

The Maniac (Cece Nielsen) carries the bulk of the show by conveying the absurdity of a historic situation. This chameleon delivers a million lines that subtly steer us through Act I and another million that heighten the laughs in Act II.

The rest of this highly energetic cast include the Constable (Max Stewart), Inspector Bertozzo (Jim Guthrie), Inspector Pissani (Keagan Nordstrom) and the Superintendent (Jackson Wilke). Maria Felleti (Kathrine Eldridge) demonstrates well how the press is routinely lied to and otherwise treated by those in authority.

On balance, considering the daring script choice and a more confidant Act II on opening weekend, I have to give the “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” four stars. The show runs one more weekend (Nov. 17-18), with performances at 7 p.m. at Port Townsend High School auditorium.

Port Townsend’s Steve Treacy is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association.