Fo Plays: 2: Can't Pay? Won't Pay!; Elizabeth; The Open Couple; An Ordinary Day (Contemporary Dramatists) (v. 2) [Paperback]

Dario Fo (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0413680207 | ISBN-13: 978-0413680204 | Publication Date: March 14, 1994

Dario Fo is Italy's leading contemporary playwright and performer, renowned throughout the world for his dazzling radical satires

Can't Pay Won't Pay is set in Milan, but "the problems are desperately familiar…Fo-faced farce wears a broad smile and proceeds at breathtaking speed" (Michael Coveney, Financial Times); Elizabeth "It portrays our last Tudor monarch in Fo's characteristically rollicking vein…A triumph for Gillian Hanna as translator" (Marin Hoyle, Financial Times); The Open Couple and An Ordinary Day, written with Franca Rame, deal wittily with the fate of women in a society in which both the social system in which they live and its dominant ideology are shaped by men.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian

About the Author

One of the major theatrical artists of the 20th century, Italy's Dario Fo, togther with Franca Rame, his wife and creative partner, have been creating a theatrical foray uniquely their own for more than fifty years. One of the world's most produced playwrights, Fo was awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Product Details

• Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: Methuen Drama (March 14, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0413680207
• ISBN-13: 978-0413680204
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #956,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Surprise, October 20, 2002

By 

Randy Keehn (Williston, ND United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fo Plays: 2: Can't Pay? Won't Pay!; Elizabeth; The Open Couple; An Ordinary Day (Contemporary Dramatists) (v. 2) (Paperback)

I always look forward to the annual Nobel Prize for Literature with the hope that I'll be able to discover a new "diamond in the rough". When I read the descriptions of Fo's avant garde works, I thought it looked too strange for my taste. However, I came across this book on sale so I thought I'd take a look. I was very pleasantly surprised and actually had a hard time putting the book down.

This is a collection of four plays. The first one is rather political in nature and might seem more enjoyable with a better knowledge of contemporary Italian economics. However, the absurdity comes through very clearly. The comedy comes through as well. I came away with a pretty good grasp of the author's view of the Italian economic problems (as well as that of the European Economic Community). However, this leftist view point left me feeling that there is another side to the story. That, of course, is my problem and not the author's shortcoming.

The second play is an interesting and enjoyable look at Queen Elizabeth I done in great comedy and absurdity. There is a main character named Grosslady who steals the show. She speaks a sort of Esperanto slang that is absolutely hilarious. There is an accompanying translation in the back of the play to help the reader understand her "language". I normally dislike anything that detracts from the flow of the book. However, I enjoyed the availability of the translation to help me follow the flow of the book. At the same time, I made sure I read the actual lines that Grosslady has in the play because it is such a brilliant comedic concoction. For example, her word for England is "Angleterror". This was all brilliantly translated by Gillian Hanna.

The last two plays are interesting examinations of human relationships and interdependence. They continue in the comedy of the absurd.

Perhaps the best recommendation I can give this collection is that I am now looking to read more of Dario Fo's works. Give this one a try!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars humorous more than anything else, May 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fo Plays: 2: Can't Pay? Won't Pay!; Elizabeth; The Open Couple; An Ordinary Day (Contemporary Dramatists) (v. 2) (Paperback)

The first time I heard about Dario Fo was when he won the Nobel prize in 1997, and this was the first book of his that I could get my hands on.I wasn't disappointed.His plays are eminently readable and quite hilarious at times.The only drawback was that being not too well versed regarding Italian politics,some of the puns were loston me[in spite of the helpful notes provided at the back].If you enjoy reading plays you'll like this.