by Dario Fo was an Italian author, playwright and director. He was born on 6 October 1926 in San Fermo della Battaglia, Lombardy. His satirical plays are the most famous examples of the Theatre of the Ridiculous. He is credited for educating a new generation of Italian viewers about contemporary social problems such as corruption and abuse of power in post-war Italy and for saving European theatre by demonstrating that popular entertainment could also be challenging and enlightening.
He blogged that every time he had been imprisoned or persecuted because his plays were seen as “subversive”, it had always turned out to be because those who were persecuting him were themselves guilty of what he had satirized in his plays.
About Dario Fo
Dario Fo is considered one of the leading figures of world theatre. His works have been translated into more than twenty languages and performed in various countries around the world. His plays deal with the absurd, trivial, and grotesque aspects of life and history that help to liberate people from the tyranny of their own prejudices and preconceptions.
Dario Fo found his calling as an author when he was fourteen years old, after a visit to a travelling puppet theatre group. He soon discovered that he had a talent for writing and began writing plays as well as poems, inspired by daily events around him: his family’s farm, the news on the radio, family reunions etc.
Life of Dario
His Birth
Dario Fo was born on 6 October 1926 in San Fermo della Battaglia, Lombardy to a farming family. He was the youngest of three children. His father, Angelo Fo, was active in local politics as a member of the Democratic and Social Christian Party.
Dario’s mother, Eugenia Franchi Fo, was a housewife and devout Catholic. She insisted that her son receive the best education possible and enrolled him in Bellas Artes High School (Scuola Superiore di Bellas Artes) in the city of Cortina d’Ampezzo when he was only eleven years old.
His studies
Dario Fo continued his studies at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa in 1943, where he studied mathematics and geometry. He later moved to Milan, where he spent one year at the Accademia di Brera, studying drawing and pictorial composition.
Dario Fo returned to San Fermo della Battaglia after World War II ended, where he worked for a period as a substitute primary school teacher before moving to Milan again. Here Dario Fo worked for several years as a journalist for the newspaper Il Giornale d’Italia and La Repubblica, until 1957 when he took employment as a trade union functionary for the metal workers’ trade union Confindustria in Milan.
His Personal Life
Dario Fo married Ninetta Mauro in 1950. Together they had three children, Francesco, Andrea and Ilenia.
Dario Fo began teaching theatre to secondary school students as a member of the Comitato Centrale Scolastico. In this role he met Luca Ronconi, who became his life-long friend, collaborator and editor of his works for Gallimard and Rue d’Ulm.
In 1957 Dario began work at the trade union branch office in Milan, where he was employed until 1962. He continued to write plays even while working full-time, giving him time to complete his first novel Lo straniero (The Stranger) in 1961.
Career
While still working at the trade union branch office in Milan, Dario Fo published his first volume of plays entitled Il Melograno (The Strawberry). In 1962 he achieved international fame with Le Donne di casa: it is a play that satirizes the life of a bourgeois family in northern Italy.
Around this time, on 25 March 1962, he began writing his most famous play: La luna e la lupa (The Moon and the Wolf). It deals with issues such as corruption and social injustice.
In 1964 his play I due fiumi (The Two Rivers), was staged at the Teatro della Luna in Rome. The play depicts the life of the early Christian community in northern Italy during the time of the Lombards.
In 1967 Dario Fo published his first novel, Lo straniero (The Stranger), based on his experiences of working for trade unions.
Over the next twenty years, Dario Fo wrote many more plays, including Travolto; Quelli della notte (Those of the Night); Come una vacca (just like a cow); La via della spiga (The Way of Spicing).
Awards and honours
In 1977 Dario Fo received the Drama Award for his play Mistero Buffo (The Comic Mystery) at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto. He was called to write and direct the opening show in celebration of Valle Giulia Theater’s twenty-fifth anniversary. In 1981, again at the Festival of Two Worlds, he received a special prize for his contribution to contemporary theater.
The Commendatore dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Commander of the Order of Merit) was awarded to Dario Fo in 1983 for his contributions to Italian culture and society. He was also awarded the Premio Viareggio for the novel II direttore delle promises (The Director of the Hospitals). In 1984, Fo won a second Theatre Festival prize for his play Una tragedia balorda (A Stupid Tragedy), played at the Teatro della Cortina in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
In 2006, he was presented with the Hans Christian Andersen International Medal of Creativity. It was presented by the International Board on Books for Young People and recognised Fo’s contribution to children’s literature. He also get nobel prize for theater in 1997
Dario Fo died at the age of 90. His death was announced by his publisher on the day following his birthday.
The Italian president Sergio Matarella said, “Italy has lost a great artist.” A public funeral was held at Milan’s La Scala opera house, where mourners in black coats were joined by a procession of students, trade unionists and theater workers. Nobel prize,nobel prize 1997,2000 nobel prize winners,nobel prize 1996,nobel peace prize 2000,1998 nobel peace prize,blobel experiment summary,nobel prize in biotechnology,nobel prize winners in pharmacy,Dario Fo,dario fo theory,dario fo techniques,dario fo commedia dell’arte,dario fo works,dario fo accidental death of an anarchist,dario fo plays pdf,dario fo style,dario fo performing, Dario Fo : The drama Literature.
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