Rome 1926. The Honourable Violet Gibson tries to assassinate Benito Mussolini. She misses. Mussolini puts a bandage on his nose and carries on with his plans for dictatorship.  

Another 2 inches to the right and Violet would have changed the entire sweep of world history.  

The world is full of dictators who grow old in their tyranny and corruption because we are not as brave, or as mad, as Violet Gibson was.

 – Collins 

Saint, subversive, prophet or madwoman? I Shot Mussolini is the story of an eccentric Irish woman who wanted to kill Mussolini and the Italian policeman who wanted to find out why. 

Bishop’s direction has a good handle on the absurdly comic.

Arts Review

Written and Directed by Alice Bishop 

Additional Research and Italian Translation by Heather Lythe. 

Based in part on Richard Collins’ manuscript The Irish Baron’s Daughter and Mussolini’s Nose.  

Projection design by Salvador Castro

Lighting design by Stelios Karagiannis

Sound design by Nat Grant

Performed by Bridgette Burton, Michael F. Cahill,
Anthea Davis, Sophie Lampel, Marco Lawrence,
Heather Lythe, Matthew Molony
and Greg Parker

Stage Manager Hayley Fox

Image by Alice Bishop 

The production excels at clawing into provocative satire of sexual politics, and has a knack for capturing the play’s deflationary humour. 

Sydney Morning Herald 
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