The Guanda publishing house presents a great editorial project: the complete, regular publishing of the entire theatrical works of Nobel prize winner Dario Fo; an oeuvre that is characterised by immense inventive richness and deeply original form.

The most widely performed and best known of his plays, which has continually been met with praise from the public during its 50,000 productions in Italy and abroad. A perfect mechanism for the stage that is distinctive in its irony, sarcasm and parody. A political satire that tells the silent, age-old story of the lower classes crushed by power but capable of mocking it.
A new complete edition with a never-before-published prologue by the author.

During the course of 2018 the following works have been published:
Sant’Ambrogio e l’invenzione di Milano (Saint Ambrose and the Invention of Milan) Morte accidentale di un anarchico (Accidental Death of an Anarchist)
Ruzzante (Romping)
Arlecchino (Harlequin)

The following works will be published during the following years:
Non si paga! Non si paga! (We Wont’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!)
Il Papa e la Strega (The Pope and The Witch)
Johan Padan a la descoverta de le americhe (Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas) Sotto paga? Non si Paga! (Can’t Pay? Wont’t Pay!)
Il paese di Mezerat (The Country of Mezerat)
Clacson, trombette e pernacchi (Trumpets and Raspberries)
La resurrezione di Lazzaro (The Resurrection of Lazarus)

pp.432

On every December 7th Milan celebrates its patron Saint, archbishop Ambrose, with the musical premiere at the Scala theatre, street markets and even a prize for people worthy of praise. But who was Ambrose before he was made a Saint? Fo tells us his story, celebrating him as a figure who represented the redemption of the people against the emperor and the triviality of the rich.

pp.240

A wonderful unpublished story: the fiercely, jeeringly told tale of the war between the Italian cities and Federico Barbarossa, one of Fo’s favourite themes of resistance against invaders and the powerful.

A convincing reinvention of History through his own over- dramatisation, sprinkled with brief bouts of controversy and satire of our current political and social situation.
The result is an engaging, vivid story of the past that illuminates and challenges our current times, taking us back to the middle ages, in the era of the communes, which is shown as intense and vivid as ever. By choosing to tell the story from “the bottom”, focusing on the lives of the men and women dealing with the hardships of daily life, Fo surprises us as always by offering a version of history that he defined as “crazy, but definitely less obvious and more believable than the official version”.

pp.160

The story of the “impossible Queen”, Cristina of Sweden, educated and rebellious, admired and opposed, unpredictable and courageous. An unusual woman.

The Thirty Year’ War is underway when Gustav II Adolf of Sweden dies, leaving the throne to his only daughter, Cristina, aged just 6 at the time. Educated, intelligent, attracted to philosophy, art and theatre, during her reign the young Queen will transform Stockholm into a “Northern Athens”, inviting the most famous personalities of the time such as Pascal and Descartes to her court. Her father has given her a boy’s education, teaching her as a child to ride and shoot. As she grows older, she will continue to prefer male clothes, behaving like a man, and loving the company of women especially – these romances are told by Fo with vitality and discretion -. Following her umpteenth free and controversial decision, that of converting to Catholicism, Cristina is forced to abdicate in favor of her cousin. Fearing reactions and vendettas from the protestants, she immediately leaves Sweden, and will spend the rest of her life in exile.

pp.160

A counter story in the manner of Dario Fo of the greatest scientist of all times Charles Darwin. The reconstruction of a scientific finding, the theory of the evolution of species, than concerns all of us and is still controversial to this day.

In a fantastic story that alternates between popular science and unpublished and comical autobiographical documents, Dario Fo retraces the convoluted journey of Charles Darwin’s studies, bringing to life the richness and charm of a unique character. Based on the letters that the scientist exchanged with his contemporaries and testimonials from his time, and the books that were subsequently published and that refuted his theories, Fo tackles a controversial theme, that of the evolution of spices, a real attack on all the finalist and determinist theories exposed in the Bible. An extremely contemporary issue that is at the centre of a debate that still rages today, dividing religion and science.

pp.128

Dario Fo commits to settling things with God and men.

The Nobel prizewinner for literature has always been a militant atheist, but this has never stopped him from exploring the theme of the sacred in many of his works, often engaging the Catholic Church and the saints in privileged conversations or making them his targets.
Taking inspiration from the immense heritage of popular culture, he has written deeply personal readings of the Gospels and the Bible, the tone of which are often ironic and provocative, but never blasphemous nor disrespectful. He has now decided to draw his conclusions from this long historical, religious and personal journey.

pp.192

The story of a tribe of Native Americans who never gave up: an incredible story of resistance told by one of the great rebels of our times.

Hollywood films generally tell the story of defeated Indians. None of them has ever told the story of the only tribe that never gave up: the Seminole. Yet the Seminole society was ahead of its time in many ways; it was matriarchal and pacifist, and an enemy of slavery. This is a story packed with adventures with unforgettable characters. Like John Horse whose astuteness was legendary, and who was capable for example of selling the same two tortoises to a Yankee General thirty times over. Or Mae Tiger, a mixed blood leader who organized the cultural, economic not to mention military resistance. O James Billie, a veteran Seminole from Vietnam who had to face his worst enemy, drugs, when he returned to his country and defended his tribe by dismantling the drug cartels.
Three great wars were fought against the Americans, and they took place at different times and on different fronts with very different strategies. These wars were all fought against overwhelming odds, and none of them was lost. An incredible story of human and community resistance, told by one of the great rebels of our times.

pp.192

How can a German boxing champion of Sinti descent represent the great Reich at the 1928 Olympics?

In 1914, when Johann Trollmann, a young boy aged 8 from Northern Germany enters a club for the first time to watch a friend training, it is love at first sight.
Johann emerges immediately as a natural, transforming boxing into an art; after a series of victories, success finally arrives. Unfortunately in the political climate that is taking over Germany, Johann has two major defects: the first is his fighting technique based on a series of small bounces and a continuous movement across the ring, almost as if it were a dance; not very virile to say the least and therefore not very Germanic. But worse than that, Johann is a Sinti, a gypsy.
When he is forced to box like an Arian, Johann turns up on the ring with his hair tinted blond and his amber skin covered in talcum powder. It will mark the end of his career.
Hitler’s racial laws prevent him not only from boxing but will also lead him to be sterilized then deported to a concentration camp where, reduced to a ghostly figure, he is forced to fight. Until the day he finds the courage to defeat a kapo’ to reclaim his dignity, and is then killed in a vendetta.

pp.176

The adventures of two extraordinary lives.
Much more than a manual, a guide or an instrument. The story of a life and of passion.

This book had been waiting to be written for years: the idea of this book had emerged when Franca was still alive, and it now finally sees the light.
What we have here is life and theatre intertwined, the post war years and the Seventies, times dominated by a strong idealistic tension which was the driving force behind all the comedies that Franca and Dario extremely successfully staged at the theatre.
The encounters and the collaboration with Beckett, Strehler, Sartre, the premiere of Mistero Buffo in Paris with a revisited French version of Grammelot, the provocations from actors hidden among the astonished, incredulous public, the tricks and suggestions when a line is forgotten, the brilliant scenic inventions with props made for shows which dealt with current affairs without ever falling into the trap of the obvious and of excessive stage direction. And finally, the trip to China and the discovery of its theatre and the contradictions of its society.
A multitude of stories, lives and theatre. All recounted in a fantastic journey during which each circumstance is filtered through the emotion of the moment, the memories leading to a renewed effort to continue turning life into a type of theatre that is a testimony of our destiny and of each of our personal stories.

Dario Fo e Franca Rame jointly wrote hundreds of comedies that were shown around the world, diffusing their idea of a political theatre. A unique, extraordinary success. In 1997 Dario Fo was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature

pp.240

Lucrezia Borgia had a Pope for a father, three husbands, many lovers, eight legitimate children, one illegitimate, and an incredible life… all within 39 years.

When looking for an example of a cruel, corrupt and lascivious woman, the first name that springs to mind is always hers: Lucrezia Borgia. She has been written about by many people: writers, historians, philosophers, and now a Nobel Prize-winner has decided to tackle this extraordinary character, distancing himself from the psychological approach, the adulatory approach and the purely historical essay.
Instead, Dario Fo makes the characters speak, and by reconstructing the historical context and recovering the fascination of the Renaissance era, he makes them come alive. He gives Lucrezia Borgia the floor, along with the other figures who make up this story – Cesare Borgia, Machiavelli’s Prince, who confides in his sister, moved by the memories of their childhood together; the fearful Pope Alessandro VI, remembered as the most corrupt of the Pontiffs; and Lucrezia’s husbands: hunted, killed, and, like her, used as pawns in games of political machination; her lovers; the great Italian courts of d’Este and Gonzaga, and the most beautiful women of the age.
“The Pope’s Daughter” is not just a journey through the beauty of the Renaissance, but more importantly a image of our own era which, seen through the filter of the past, seems even more desolate and corrupt. As we read of the atrocities and betrayals committed in Lucrezia’s time in the name of expedience and political scheming, it seems that nothing has really changed since then, and that we have succeeded in retaining all the negative aspects of those days, while losing those which seemed to offer a hope of regeneration.

pp.208

A love story, a story of power and intrigue that is fascinating and engaging that the Nobel prize winner recreates in the form of a novel after finding a series of secret diaries and inedited documents.
Just like his previous book La figlia del Papa (The Pope’s daughter), Dario Fo merges invention and historic research to make a long forgotten story relevant and appealing because of its beauty and charm.

A story of love and insanity. A revolutionary dream that became reality. This new historical novel by Dario Fo takes place in Denmark in the 18th century. The main characters are the mad young king Christian VII and his young wife Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, her lover, doctor Johann Friedrich Struensee and the king’s son Frederick.
At times the story changes direction due to unexpected events such as madness. In this case, it is the insanity of a king combined with the utopian vision of an illuminist revolutionary doctor who loves Voltaire and Rousseau, and the complicity of the young princess. Locked in a desperate love triangle, the three of them launch a series of revolutionary reforms, which were unimaginable at the time such as the abolition of torture, freedom of the press, the abolition of class privileges, the promotion of culture and education. A coup orchestrated by the queen mother and by the Court will lead the doctor to be hanged and the princess to be exiled and separated from her children. But although the dream of a revolution is crushed, it still remains alive: the young Frederick will continue to support the liberal principles when he takes over, triggering a strong reaction from the conservatories and in effect anticipating the ideals of the French Revolution.
Only someone who has been writing political theatre for a lifetime could have written such a story.

pp.160