Dario Fo and the Commedia legacy

DUE TO ONGOING PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS THIS TALK IS CANCELLED. WE WILL ATTEMPT TO RESCHEDULE IT AT A LATER DATE.

The Italian playwright, director, actor, designer, painter, political activist and Nobel Laureate Dario Fo was, until his death in 2016 (and arguably remains so today), one of the most important figures in contemporary world theatre. He is often associated with Commedia dell’Arte, although, in his view, Commedia is just one phase in the long history of European farcical/satirical comedy. His practice had its roots in the itinerant medieval street performers, Fo referred to them as ‘giullari’ . He maintained, “there is no way of knowing when the activity of the ‘giullari’ ended and that of the Commedia dell’Arte took over”.(Fo 1987). I will endeavour to explore Fo’s relationship with Commedia in the context of his work and give a flavour of the man, this remarkable Italian dramatist Dario Fo.