All forms of power – even based on the consensus of the democratic system – react when they are being attacked, or when those who exercise power become a target.
Dario Fo Quotes
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| Birth: | 24th March, 1926 |
| Nationality: | Italian |
| Profession: | Actor, Composer, Director, Satirist, Playwriter |
About
Fo was born in Sangiano, in the province of Varese, near the eastern shore of Lago Maggiore. In 1940, Fo moved to Milan to study architecture at the Brera Academy, but World War II intervened. His family was active in the anti-fascist Resistance and reputedly he helped his father to smuggle refugees and Allied soldiers to Switzerland. His father helped smuggle Jewish scientists to safety in Switzerland. After the war Fo continued his architectural studies in Milan. Initially he commuted from Lago Maggiore, but soon his family moved to Milan. There Fo became involved in the piccoli teatri movement, in which he began to present improvised monologues. In 1950 he began to work for Franco Parenti's theatre company, and gradually abandoned his work as an assistant architect.
In 1955, Fo and Rame(his wife) worked in movie production in Rome. Fo became a screenwriter and worked for many productions, including those of Dino De Laurentiis. Rame worked in Teatro Stabile of Bolzano. In 1956 Fo and Rame were together in the Carlo Lizzani's film Lo svitato. Other movies followed. In 1959, the couple returned to Milan and founded the Compagnia Dario Fo-Franca Rame. Fo wrote scripts, acted, directed, and designed costumes and stage paraphernalia. In 1960, Fo and Rame gained national recognition with Gli arcangeli non giocano a flipper in Milan's Teatro Odeon. Other successes followed. In 1961 Fo's plays began to play in Sweden and Poland.
In 1962, Fo's play about Christopher Columbus, entitled Isabella, Three Tall Ships, and a Con Man, was subject to violent attacks by fascist groups in Rome. The Italian Communist Party provided security for Fo and Rame. Fo recounted this event in the prologue of Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas. La Signora รจ da buttare (1967) made topical comments on the Vietnam War, Lee Harvey Oswald, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The U.S. government consistently denied Fo a visa to enter the U.S. for many years under the now defunct McCarran-Walter Act.
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