We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! And Other Works: The Collected Plays of Dario Fo, Volume One (Paperback)

~ (Author), Ron Jenkins (Translator) "Like all tricksters, Dario Fo envisions the world in a state of flux..." (more)
Key Phrases: pastry shop owner, two overcoats, seed soup, Big Mama, Santa Eulalia, Franca Rame (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The Nobel prize-winning Italian dramatist Fo and his frequent collaborator, Franca Rame, have been eliciting laughter and thought for almost half a century both as writers and as actors. They are modern commedia dell'arte entertainers with a social, political, and historical conscience. Jenkins's joint study is a much-needed critical review of their work. As Fo's official American translator, Jenkins has worked closely with the texts and the artists for several years. In this book, he communicates his deep commitment to and appreciation of their work, covering their biographies, artistic development, and philosophy and surveying many major works. With its extensive text samples, performance photographs, and reproductions of Fo's paintings, this book is both comprehensive and thoughtful. An anthology of plays, We Won't Pay! is the first volume in the collected works by this translator. The four plays collected here date from 1959 to 1986. In addition to the title play, the book includes "About Face," "Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman," and "Archangels Don't Play Pinball." As translations, they are funny and agile and will be more accessible to Americans than earlier Fo translations, which were geared toward British audiences. Of course, since Fo is such an improviser, his actual performances may differ widely from one occasion to another and from what is presented here. These books belong together in public and academic theater collections. Thomas E. Luddy, Salem State Coll., MA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Many were surprised when Fo, a mere writer and clownish performer of rather buffoonish comedies, won the Nobel Prize in 1997. He was just an entertainer! Many who have seen his anarchistic farces descry serious intent just below their mad comic surfaces. We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! is a Feydeau-like farce triggered by a food riot. About Face is a variation on a plot device--identical strangers switch identities--hoary when Plautus used it and a vicious satire on Italy's class structure: the president of Fiat, stricken with amnesia and taken for an assembly-line worker, suffers the daily humiliations of the working class. The madness in Fo in itself carries a political message; many plays revel in the life-giving anarchism that results when the stultifying status quo breaks down. Fo's debt to Marxism is nearly as great as Brecht's, but what makes Fo delightful to read is his debt to those other Marxists--Groucho, Chico, and Harpo. Besides the plays, the volume contains short essays about Fo's life and work by translator Jenkins. Jack Helbig
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559361824
• ISBN-13: 978-1559361828
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #783,579 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most deserved Nobel Prize, August 27, 2002

By	Andrea De Tiferniis (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Dario Fo is a great artist and a great man. With his wife Franca he has written some of the best pages of Italian culture. I had the fortune of watching them act (live and on TV) in most of their plays. With the barest stage they can convey the richest combination of form and substance. They represent the core of the profound culture and sensitivity of the Italian working class, which so important has been in the social development of that country, and still is little known abroad (shaded by the stereotypical and outdated images of mandolins, meatballs, and mafiamen). I deeply encourage anyone to read as much as possible of what Dario has written.

I found on this website a review claiming that "Fo supports the WTC attackers". The author of that review should have gone a little deeper in reading the facts, just to discover that the intended message of the reported statement was quite opposite to the alleged one. The original text that includes the statement can be found at ...(in Italian). I believe the misunderstanding is far from casual. Nowadays the Italian Prime Minister controls almost every information medium. He has restored most of the political and cultural conditions that Italy was forced to "enjoy" between 1922 and 1943. It has become very hard for dissenting voices to reach a wide audience without having their messages distorted on the way. The "Corriere della Sera" excerpt from Dario and Franca's email on the 9/11 tragedy is just one more example of how easy it is to manipulate the truth by simply reporting minimal parts of it.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Theatre in Action, April 11, 2002

By	K. Crow (California and Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

For decades Dario Fo and his wife, Franca Rame, have created some of the most interesting political theatre of the 20th century. Fo's work deals with social injustice, political freedom and economic policies. He often expresses pro-communist views. Common themes in Fo's work include critiques of fascism and terrorism. Much of his work is targeted at the working class

Fo is known for his use of the Italian tradition of commedia dell'arte. This tradition allows Fo to exploit taboo subjects in highly comic situations. Like the commedia dell'arte tradition, Fo's humor is bawdy and over the top. It is tremendously absurd and equally as witty.

Dario Fo won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

We Can't Pay! We Won't Pay!, Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Ordinary Couple are my favorite works by Dario Fo.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fo's Journey, October 15, 2002

By A Customer

A.L. Bell, in his ingnorance has overlooked the fact the Fo's statement is quite true, and if further researched his review would have also stated the fact that Mr. Fo had been one of Italy's greatest political satirists and has provided Europe with great satirical works in the latter part of the last century and continues to do so.