Dario Fo: Stage, Text and Tradition

Joseph Farrell and Antonio Scuderi present an international collection of essays re-evaluating the multifaceted performance art of Nobel laureate Dario Fo. The contributors, all of whom either have previously published on Fo or have worked with him, are the major Dario Fo scholars of three continents. Going beyond the Marxist criticism of the 1970s and 1980s, the editors and contributors try to establish and appropriate language in which to debate Fo’s theatre. They seek to identify the core of Fo’s work, the material that will be of lasting value. This involves locating Fo in history, examining the nature of his development through successive phases, incorporating his politics into a wider framework of radical dissent, and setting his theatrical achievements in a context and a tradition. The essays cover every aspect of Dario Fo: as actor, playwright, performer and songwriter. They also provide the historical background of Fo’s theatre, as well as in-depth analyses of specific works and the contribution of Franca Rame. Also included is a discussion of original artwork by Fo, including vignettes from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.