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


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal