If you're from Seattle, you're likely to recognize actor Anthony Curry the moment he walks onstage at The Empty Space in Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist, which began previews Feb. 13 and opens Feb. 18.

Curry has grown quite at home on the stage of the Space, where in 1997 he appeared in two mainstage productions. He played the smarmy Beverly, who doubles as Cathy's Brother, in Wuthering!Heights!The!Musical! and Pavel, the Soviet army deserter who hides in his own pigsty for decades, in Fugard's A Place with the Pigs. His work in these two roles was much-praised by the critics and led to his receiving the new Backstage West Garland Award for Outstanding Seattle Actor in 1997.

Between those stints Curry was also seen at the Space in two other shows: an independently produced version of the comedy It Had To Be You, and Mr. Universe, in which he played a sympathetic drag queen.

Accidental Death of an Anarchist, directed by Space associate artistic director Rod Ceballos, is a rowdy, freewheeling mystery farce with a sharp political edge, in which the suspicious death of an anarchist -- who falls through an open police station window -- is covered up, until a fast talking master of disguise known as the Fool arrives on the scene to find out who committed the crime.

Fo won the 1997 Nobel Prize for literature and Death is his best-known play, internationally. Fo himself created the role of the Fool, played in the Space production by Robert G. Anderson, with Curry as the Police Chief, Joanne Klein as the Reporter, Jeffrey Treadwell as the Captain, Bruce Holmes as Inspector Bertozzo and Keith Anderson as the Sergeant.

The Accidental Death of an Anarchist previews Feb. 13, 14, 16 and 17, opens Feb. 18, and runs through Mar. 21. The Empty Space is located at 3509 Fremont Ave N. For tickets ($12 previews; $14-$24 after opening), call (206) 547-7500.

-- By
David-Edward HughesSeattle Correspondent