Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature In the words of his translator, Ron Jenkins: "The Nobel committee's decision to honor Fo as a master of literature is a historic tribute to the theatre, which is still viewed by many as literature's bastard child; it is also the first time that the Nobel for the literary arts has been awarded to an actor. This courageous and controversial choice indirectly expands the modern definition of literature to include the power of the spoken word." Volume One includes: We Won't Pay We Won't Pay Elizabeth Archangels Don't Play Pinball About Face

Dario Fo, one of Italy's foremost playwrights, is a rarity- a Marxist with a sense of humor. This hilarious farce, a success Off Broadway and across the U.S., is set in motion when a housewife comes home with groceries she has swiped as part of a spontaneous community action where 300 women did the same. In her effort to keep her secret from her husband, she hides some of the groceries under her best friend's raincoat. Her husband and his friend the accomplice's husband notice the bulge, of course; but they believe the explanation that the accomplice is pregnant! Hilarity is piled upon hilarity as the characters try to extricate themselves from the mess they have gotten into. Eventually, they all unite to support the spontaneous resistance to eviction in their housing project.

The first and only full-length critical study of Dario Fo, the 1997 Nobel Prize for Literature Winner This book, now extensively rewritten and updated, remains the only full-length critical study to cover various phases of Dario Fo's theatrical career. It looks at Fo's political influences and also the influence on his work of various theatrical motifs, including the great clown traditions which stretch back to the middle ages. The political work of Dario Fo and his wife/collaborator Franca Rame is charted from the 1960s up to the present to give the reader clear insight into this playwright/performer's unique literary and theatrical strengths. Each of Fo's plays and productions is discussed at length and the author has included an extensive and updated bibliography which includes full production details, quotes and writings about Fo. Always a popular performer in his native Italy, Fo has been one of the world's most performed dramatists. In the author's words: he is the "people's court jester".

Why is folly essential to the functioning of a healthy society? Why is theatre a natural home for madness? The answers take the reader on a journey embracing Shakespeare and Jonson, Brecht and Beckett, Büchner and Boal. From Falstaff to Fo via Figaro, this study examines the art of telling truth to power and surviving long enough to have a laugh.

When these one-acts were produced Off Broadway in New York, they were hailed as plays that bend your perceptions of theatre. In One for the Money, a man walks in asking the audience for donations. What does he really want? Moroccan Travel Guide is a visceral show and tells of a journey that begins in a boat in a dark cave. In The Queen of the Parting Shot, a woman desperately searches for an old memory. A runner-up contestant in The Audition is asked to give his second-prize performance. In the