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Duomo is a term for a cathedral church. The formal word for a church that is presently a cathedral is cattedrale; a Duomo may be either a present or a former cathedral (the latter always in a town that no longer has a bishop nor therefore a cathedral, as for example Trevi). Some, like the Duomo of Monza, have never been cathedrals, although old and important. Many people refer to particular churches simply as "Il Duomo" or "The Duomo", without regard to the full proper name of the church. Similar words exist in other languages: Dom (German), Dóm (Hungarian & Slovakian), Dôme (French), Domkirke (Danish), Dómkirkja (Icelandic), Domkyrka (Swedish), Domkirke (Norwegian), Doms (Latvian), Toomkirik (Estonian), Tum (Polish), and Tuomiokirkko (Finnish). Also in these languages the respective terms do not necessarily refer to a church functioning as a cathedral, but also to proto-cathedrals or simply prominent church buildings, which have never been a cathedral in the exact sense of that word. In German the term Dom became the synecdoche, used - pars pro toto - for most existing or former collegiate churches. Therefore the uniform translation of these terms into English as cathedrals may not always be appropriate and should be used on a contextual basis.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, and to Lo Zingarelli, the word duomo derives from the Latin word "domus", meaning house, as a cathedral is the "house of God", or domus Dei. The Garzanti online dictionary also gives the etymology as deriving from house, but house of the bishop ("domu(m) (episcopi); 'casa (del vescovo)') instead of the house of God.^[1]

Italian cathedrals are often highly decorated and contain notable artworks; in many cases the buildings themselves are true artworks. Perhaps the best known Duomo is Milan Cathedral, but other well-known cathedrals include San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome and those of Alba, Ancona, Mantua, Parma and Florence's Santa Maria del Fiore. Other notable examples are in Cefalù, Cremona, Enna, L'Aquila, Modena, Monreale, Naples, Genoa, Orvieto, Padua, Piazza Armerina, Pisa (the Leaning Tower is the Duomo's bell-tower), Prato, San Gimignano, Siena, Spoleto, Turin and Viterbo.

Gallery[link]

References[link]

Jamie Woon (born March 29, 1983^[1]) is a British singer, songwriter and producer signed to Polydor who gained widespread acclaim in 2010 for his single Night Air which was co-produced by Burial, following his previous independent release, Wayfaring Stranger EP.^[2]

The Eurasian son of a Malaysian Chinese father, and Scottish Irish mother (Celtic singer Mae McKenna), he was born and raised in New Malden in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London.^[3] He was educated at Sacred Heart RC Primary School (New Malden), S.T Catherines RC Middle School (Raynes Park) & Wimbledon College (Wimbledon). He later attended the BRIT School, where he graduated the year behind Amy Winehouse, whom he later supported live.^[4][5]

Woon's sound and style is presently described as soul inflected vocals backed by samplers and programming, or a single guitar track. He describes his music as "... R&B, it's groove-based vocal-led music ...".^[3]

On 4 January 2011, the BBC announced that Woon had been placed fourth in the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll.^[4]

Woon's debut album is entitled Mirrorwriting and was released on 18 April 2011 via Polydor Records.^[6]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

Official remixes[link]

• "Video Games" (Jamie Woon Remix) - Lana Del Rey

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jamie Woon on Twitter
• Jamie Woon on Myspace
• Jamie Woon's channel on YouTube
• Jamie Woon's BBC Sound of 2011 page at BBC Online
• Jamie Woon Interview

Pier Luigi Bersani
Leader of the Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 October 2009
Preceded by	Dario Franceschini
Minister of Economic Development
In office 17 May 2006 – 8 May 2008
Prime Minister	Romano Prodi
Preceded by	Claudio Scajola (Productive Activities)
Succeeded by	Claudio Scajola
Minister of Transports and Navigation
In office 22 December 1999 – 11 June 2001
Prime Minister	Massimo D'Alema
Preceded by	Tiziano Treu
Succeeded by	Pietro Lunardi (Infrastructures and Transports)
Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship
In office 18 May 1996 – 22 December 1999
Prime Minister	Romano Prodi
Preceded by	Alberto Clò
Succeeded by	Enrico Letta
President of Emilia-Romagna
In office 6 July 1993 – 17 May 1996
Preceded by	Enrico Boselli
Succeeded by	Antonio La Forgia
Personal details
Born	(1951-09-29) 29 September 1951 (age 60) Bettola, Italy
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Daniela Ferrari
Children	Elisa Margherita
Alma mater	University of Bologna
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	http://www.bersanisegretario.it/

Pier Luigi Bersani (Italian pronunciation: [pjɛr luˈiːdʒi berˈsaːni]) (born 29 September 1951 in Bettola) is an Italian politician and the current Secretary of the Democratic Party, the main center-left political party in Italy. He was Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship from 1996 to 1999, Minister of Transports from 1999 to 2001, and Minister of Economic Development from 2006 to 2008.

Early life[link]

Pier Luigi Bersani was born September 29, 1951, in Bettola, a mountain municipality in Nure Valley, in the province of Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna region, Italy. His father was a mechanic and a gas station clerk. After earning his high-school degree in Piacenza, Bersani enrolled in the University of Bologna where he graduated in philosophy with a dissertation on Pope Gregory I. He married Mrs. Daniela Ferrari in 1980, and he has two daughters: Elisa and Margherita. After a short experience as teacher he committed his life to politics and public administration.^[1]

Political career[link]

Early political career[link]

Bersani joined the Italian Communist Party and subsequently the Democratic Party of the Left. As member of the National Secretariat of the Democrats of the Left, he was responsible for the economic sector. Very young, he became Vice-President of the Mountain Community of Piacenza, then elected in the Regional Council of Emilia-Romagna region and Vice-President of Emilia-Romagna in 1990; he was President of Emilia-Romagna from 1993 to 1996.

Center-left cabinets (1996-2001)[link]

After the general election of 1996 he was Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship (1996–1999) and Minister of Transports (1999–2001) in the center-left cabinets of Prodi, D'Alema, Amato.

European Parliament (2004-2006)[link]

In 2004 he was elected to the European Parliament representing the North-West region for the Democrats of the Left, part of the Socialist Group, and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. He was a substitute for the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, a member of the Delegation to the European Union-Kazakhstan, EU-Kyrgyzstan and EU-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees, and for relations with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia, and a substitute for the Delegation for relations with Belarus. He left the European Parliament on his re-election to the Chamber of Deputies in 2006, and he was appointed as Minister of Economic Development in the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi on May 17, 2006.

Prodi II Cabinet (2006-2008)[link]

The Prodi II Cabinet assigned the Minister of Economic Development, Pier Luigi Bersani, the task of making reforms in order to achieve more market liberalization and competition. The minister responded with Decree Law 223 of 30 June 2006, later converted into Law 248/2006, popularly known as the “Bersani 1” decree on taxi drivers and pharmacies, although it addressed other sectors as well.

Bersani as secretary of PD.

The government’s policy of competition and liberalization would not to stop there. “Bersani 1” was followed by “Bersani 2” (decree 7 of 31January 2007, converted into Law 40 of 2 April 2007), and then by a series of bills for the liberalization of the professions and television broadcasting, local public services, and energy, as well as the reduction and simplification of times and procedures for the start up of new businesses. Another bill proposed to rationalize the jurisdictions of the regulatory authorities, modifying and reinforcing their powers, particularly with regard to competition. Still another bill would introduce and regulate the judicial procedures for class action lawsuits.^[2]

Secretary of the Democratic Party of Italy (2009-)[link]

On October 25, 2009 he defeated incumbents Dario Franceschini and Ignazio Marino in the Democratic Party leadership election, thus becoming Italy's main opposition leader, scoring 55.1% among party members.^[3] Since November, 7 2009, as decided by the National Assembly, Pier Luigi Bersani officially took office as Secretary of the Democratic Party of Italy.^[4]

Other activities[link]

In 2001 Bersani co-founded with Vincenzo Visco the NENS ("New Economy, New Society") think tank.^[5] He is also chairman of the Nuova Romea Society, born in 2002 with the objective of the development of Emilia-Romagna and Veneto territories.

Honours[link]

• Légion d'honneur

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pier Luigi Bersani

• Official website of Pier Luigi Bersani: www.pierluigibersani.it
• European Parliament biography of Pier Luigi Bersani (incl. Speeches, Questions and Motions)
• Declaration (PDF) of financial interests (Italian)

References[link]

v t e Prodi I Cabinet (1996 – 1998) Veltroni | Dini | Napolitano | Ciampi | Visco | Andreatta | Flick | Bersani | Pinto | Berlinguer | Bindi | Treu | Di Pietro | Costa | Burlando | Ronchi | Maccanico | Fantozzi | Bassanini | Turco | Finocchiaro | Bogi

v t e D'Alema I Cabinet (1998 – 1999) Mattarella Bellillo Piazza Balbo Letta Folloni Amato Maccanico Turco Dini Iervolino Diliberto Ciampi Visco Scognamiglio Berlinguer Micheli De Castro Treu Cardinale Bersani Bassolino Salvi Fassino Bindi Ronchi Melandri Zecchino

v t e D'Alema II Cabinet (1999 – 2000) Bellillo Bassanini Balbo Toia Loiero Maccanico Turco Dini Bianco Diliberto Amato Visco Mattarella Berlinguer Bordon De Castro Bersani Cardinale Letta Salvi Fassino Bindi Melandri Ronchi Zecchino

v t e Amato II Cabinet (2000–2001) Loiero Bassanini Bellillo Mattioli Maccanico Toia Turco Dini Bianco Fassino Visco Del Turco Letta De Mauro Salvi Pecoraro Scanio Mattarella Bordon Bersani Nesi Veronesi Cardinale Zecchino Melandri

v t e Prodi II Cabinet (2006 - 2008) D'Alema | Rutelli | Amato | Padoa-Schioppa | Parisi | Mastella | Bersani | De Castro | Fioroni | Mussi | Turco | Damiano | Ferrero | Di Pietro | Bianchi | Pecoraro Scanio | Gentiloni | Bonino | Chiti | Nicolais | Lanzillotta | Santagata | Pollastrini | Melandri | Bindi

Beppe Grillo
Leader of the Five Star Movement
Incumbent
Assumed office October 4, 2009
Personal details
Born	(1948-07-21) 21 July 1948 (age 63) Genoa, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Five Star Movement
Relations	Married
Children	6
Occupation	Comedian, Activist, Politician
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	http://www.beppegrillo.it/

Giuseppe Piero Grillo, better known as Beppe Grillo (born 21 July 1948), is an Italian activist, blogger, comedian and actor. He has been involved in politics since 2009 as leader of the Five Star Movement.

Biography[link]

Grillo was born in Genoa, Liguria.

After receiving his degree as an accountant, Grillo became a comedian by chance, improvising a monologue in an audition. Two weeks later he was discovered and launched by Italian TV presenter Pippo Baudo. He subsequently participated in the variety show Secondo Voi for two years (1977–78). Later, in 1979, he participated in Luna Park by Enzo Trapani, and Fantastico.

In the 1980s his success rose further, thanks to shows like Te la do io l'America (1982, 4 episodes) and Te lo do io il Brasile (1984, six episodes). In these shows, he narrated his experiences of his visits to the United States and Brazil, with anecdotes and witticisms about the culture, lifestyle and beauty of these places.

As a result, his popularity grew more and more, and he became the protagonist of another show developed especially for him, called Grillometro (Grillometer). In 1986, he was the star of prize-winning advertisements for a brand of yogurt.

Soon after this, his performances began to be characterized by an increasing level of political satire, often expressed in such a direct way that he quickly offended a lot of Italian politicians. In 1987 during the Saturday night TV show Fantastico 7, he attacked the Italian Socialist Party and its leader Bettino Craxi, then Italy's Prime Minister, on the occasion of his visit in the People's Republic of China. Grillo said:

If the Chinese are all socialists, whom do they steal from?

The joke hinted at the totalitarianism of the PRC, but even more to the widespread corruption for which the Italian Socialist Party was known. As a consequence, Grillo was effectively and silently banished from publicly owned television; yet, he was vindicated a few years later when the Italian Socialist Party had to be disbanded in a welter of corruption scandals known as Tangentopoli, uncovered by the Mani pulite investigation. Craxi himself died in Tunisia, unable to return to Italy where he would have been jailed for several convictions.

Consequently, from the beginning of the 1990s his appearances on television became rare: according to many people, the reason for this is a silent ostracism by politicians offended by his revelations about their hidden financial activities, frauds and false claims. When one of his shows was finally allowed to be broadcast by RAI, in 1993, it obtained a record share of 16 million viewers. He was later banned definitively from Italian television.

He currently performs in theatres in Italy and abroad, often with outstanding success.^[1] Grillo's themes include energy usage, political and corporate corruption, finance, freedom of speech, child labour, globalization, and technology. Recently Grillo started to encourage the use of Wikipedia as the future of knowledge sharing, and generally he is a strong proponent of internet freedom.^[2]

Political activism[link]

Beppe Grillo in Bologna speaking at V-Day.

Grillo has spearheaded several national and international political campaigns. On Sept. 8, 2007, he organized a "V-Day Celebration" in Italy; the "V" stood for vendetta, vengeance, and vaffanculo ("fuck off"). During the rally, Grillo projected the names of two dozen Italian politicians who had been convicted of crimes ranging from corruption and tax evasion to abetting a murder. More than 2 million Italians participated in this rally.^[3] Grillo also used this rally to urge Italians to sign a petition calling for the introduction of a Bill of Popular Initiative to remove members of the Italian Parliament who have criminal convictions of any kind from their office.^[4] According to Internet scholars, V–day was the first case in Italian history of a political demonstration developed and promoted via word–of–mouth mobilization on the blogosphere and the social web.^[5]

This was followed by the second V-Day on 25 April 2008, in Turin, S.Carlo square. This V-Day was dedicated to the Italian press and its government financial support; Grillo heavily criticized the Italian press for the lack of freedom; Umberto Veronesi (about his support for incinerators); NATO bases in Italy, the politicians (Silvio Berlusconi had recently been re-elected) and Retequattro, still holding on to TV frequencies already assigned to Europa 7 [2].

Beppe Grillo in Turin during electoral campaign.

On 1 September 2005, thanks to contributions from readers of his blog, Grillo bought a full page advertisement in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in which he called for the resignation of the Bank of Italy's (then) governor Antonio Fazio over the Antonveneta banking scandal. In October 2005, Time chose him as one of the "European Heroes 2005" for his constant battle against corruption and financial scandals.^[6]

On 22 November 2005 Grillo also bought a page in the International Herald Tribune, again claiming that members of the Italian Parliament ought not to represent citizens if they have ever been convicted in a court of law, even in the first degree of the three available in the Italian system.^[7] His blog now contains a regularly updated list of members of the Italian Parliament who have been convicted in all three degrees, in what he calls "operation Clean Parliament".^[8] Grillo claimed, in 2007, that data suggested that even Scampia, the most dangerous suburb of Naples and one of the areas with the highest crime rate in Europe, actually had a lower crime rate than the Italian parliament's membership.^[9]

On 26 July 2007 Grillo was permitted to speak to the members of the European Parliament in Brussels, where he drew attention to the dangerous, negative state of current Italian politics.^[10]

In August 2008, Grillo was the subject of a report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC-TV) international affairs program "Foreign Correspondent". Titled "The Clown Prince" the report profiled Grillo's life, political activism, V Day campaign, and use of the internet as a political tool.^[11]

In 2010, he started a political movement called "Movimento 5 stelle" ("Movement five stars"), without the desire to be a leader and to be elected, but only to join, by the Internet, people who believe in ideals like honesty and direct democracy, and saying that politicians are only subordinates of the people and that they should work for the country only for a short time and only if they are not condemned for crimes, and thinking about the problems of their country without any other interest. The movement will be truly a party chance only from the next political round, when they will purpose their name not only in some regions but also in the political elections. The five stars represent the five basic points of the shared program: Water, Environment, Transport, Connectivity, Growth.

Beppegrillo.it[link]

Grillo maintains a blog (available in Italian, English and Japanese) at beppegrillo.it which is updated daily. Comments to posts regularly top the thousands (in the Italian version). According to Technorati, the blog is ranked among the 10 most visited blogs in the world. In 2008, The Guardian ranked Grillo's blog among the world's most powerful blogs.^[12]

Grillo often receives letters of appreciation and support from prominent figures, such as Antonio Di Pietro (former Italian Minister of Infrastructures), Fausto Bertinotti (former President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies), Renzo Piano, and even Nobel Prize Winners (like Dario Fo, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Dalai Lama, Muhammad Yunus).^[13]

Legal issues[link]

In 1980 he was found guilty of manslaughter for a car accident in which he was the driver; three passengers lost their lives.^[14]

During his shows Grillo never hesitates to name firms and personalities he considers corrupt, always supporting his views with data and documents^{[citation needed]}. For this reason he has been sued several times for libel by many people and organizations which he had exposed, such as Telecom Italia.

When Italian judges were investigating the Parmalat scandal, which was then the world's largest corporate bankruptcy scandal ever, Grillo was called to testify as he anticipated the imminent collapse of the dairy conglomerate in one of his shows. When he was asked by judges how he has been able to discover that, he simply said that Parmalat's financial holes were so evident that anybody who had enough ability to see them would see them, since the corporate accounting was easily accessible.^[15]

Criticism[link]

Grillo is often criticized for his lifestyle. In particular, critics blame him for owning a motor yacht and a Ferrari sports car, both being in contradiction with his well known ecologist stance. In his blog he admits that he did, in fact, acquire both but has since sold them.^[14]

Grillo is also criticized for taking advantage of the Condono Tombale, a fiscal amnesty granted by the first Berlusconi government in 2001, which Grillo publicly opposed.^[16] Grillo commented on this issue during the V-Day demonstration. He said that he had personally benefitted by only €500^{[citation needed]}.

Grillo has proposed that members of the Italian Parliament who have a criminal record should be barred from public office. As Grillo himself has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter caused by a car accident^[14] his critics^[who?] say he has no right to represent Italians either. Grillo has always stated that he is not interested in becoming a member of the Italian Parliament anyway.^[14] Despite this, in July 2009 he publicly expressed his intention to present himself as a candidate for the PD's primary elections^[17] which, however, does not imply automatic presence in the Italian parliament.

Another proposal of his is that members of Parliament be limited to two government terms of office after which they might not stand again. Detractors^[who?] argue that this would shorten the political life of competent and expert politicians, usually drawing Alcide De Gasperi, Aldo Moro and Enrico Berlinguer as examples of brilliant politicians who served more than two terms. Marco Travaglio replied that, for that sake, also the political life of much less popular Clemente Mastella would have suffered.^[18]

Grillo is criticized as being a mere demagogue who attacks politicians on superficial issues and their private lives while unable to provide a valid alternative. For instance, Daniele Luttazzi, famous Italian satirist, criticized Grillo in 2007 in an open letter published on the website of the news magazine Micromega. Luttazzi accused Grillo of being a "demagogue" and a "populist", suggesting Grillo to choose between satire and politics, asserting the two are incompatible.^[19]

In 2007 Grillo criticized the "Memorial Day of Foibe Massacres and Istrian-Dalmatian exodus" and the President of the Italian Repubblic Giorgio Napolitano^[20]

Filmography[link]

Grillo has appeared in three movies:

• Cercasi Gesù (1982)
• Scemo di Guerra (1985)
• Topo Galileo (1987)

In 2008, Grillo featured in the documentary, The Beppe Grillo Story, produced by Banyak Films for Al Jazeera English.

References[link]

External links[link]

Official websites[link]

• The English version of Beppe Grillo's personal blog
• Beppe Grillo's fans meeting map around the world

Other resources[link]

• 'Time' article about Grillo
• 'New York Times' video about Grillo
• 'New Yorker' Beppe’s Inferno

Dario Fo
Dario Fo in Milan
Born	(1926-03-24) 24 March 1926 (age 86) Sangiano, Varese, Italy
Occupation	Playwright, Actor, Director, Composer
Nationality	Italian
Period	Post-war era
Genres	Drama
Subjects	Corruption, organised crime, political murders, religion, war
Literary movement	Revival of commedia dell'arte
Notable work(s)	Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Can't Pay? Won't Pay!, Trumpets and Raspberries, Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman, The Pope and the Witch
Notable award(s)	Nobel Prize in Literature 1997
Spouse(s)	Franca Rame
Children	Jacopo Fo
Influences Bertholt Brecht, Antonio Gramsci
www.dariofo.it

Dario Fo (born 24 March 1926) is an Italian satirist, playwright, theatre director, actor, composer and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes.

Fo's works are characterised by criticisms of organised crime, political corruption, political murders, most of the Catholic Church doctrine and conflict in the Middle East. His plays often depend on improvisation, commedia dell'arte style. His plays, especially Mistero Buffo, have been translated into 30 languages and, when performed outside Italy, they are often modified to reflect local political and other issues. Fo encourages directors and translators to modify his plays as they see fit, as he finds this in accordance to the commedia dell'arte tradition of on-stage improvisation.

Fo currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress Franca Rame. Upon awarding him the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature, the committee highlighted Fo as a writer "who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden".^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Fo was born in Sangiano, in the province of Varese, near the eastern shore of Lago Maggiore. His father, Felice, was a stationmaster for the Italian state railway, and the family frequently moved when Felice was transferred to new postings. Felice was also an amateur actor and a socialist. Fo learned storytelling from his maternal grandfather and Lombard fishers and glassblowers.

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. ^[2] Near the end of the war, Fo was conscripted into the army of the Republic of Salò, but he escaped and hid for the remainder of the war in an attic. ^[2]

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 (small theatres) 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.

1950s[link]

In 1951, Fo met Franca Rame, daughter of a theatrical family, when they were working in the revue Sette giorni a Milano, and they eventually became engaged. In 1951 he was invited to perform a radio play Cocorico on RAI (Italian national radio). He made 18 satirical monologues where he adapted biblical tales as political satire. Scandalized authorities cancelled the show. In 1953, Fo wrote and directed a satirical play Il dito nell'occhio. After initial success both government and Church authorities censored his work and the theatre company had trouble finding theatres in which to perform it. Rame and Fo were married on 24 June 1954. They had a son, Jacopo (born 31 March 1955), who also became a writer.

In 1955, Fo and Rame 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. Rame took care of the administration. The company débuted in Piccolo Teatro and then initiated its first annual nationwide tour.^{[citation needed]}

1960s[link]

In 1960, Fo and Rame gained national recognition with Gli arcangeli non giocano a flipper (Archangels Don't Play Pinball) in Milan's Teatro Odeon. Other successes followed. In 1961 Fo's plays began to play in Sweden and Poland.

In 1962, Fo wrote and directed a game show, Canzonissima, for RAI. He used the show to depict the lives of ordinary people and it was a great success. However, an episode about a journalist who was killed by the Mafia led to Fo and Rame receiving death threats and being placed under police protection. They left the show when RAI made more cuts to the program. The Italian Actors' Union told its members not to replace the couple in their roles. Fo and Rame were effectively banned from RAI for the next 15 years. They continued their work in Teatro Odeon.^{[citation needed]}

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 è 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.^{[citation needed]}

Nonetheless, he gained international fame with Archangels Don't Play Pinball, when it was performed in Zagreb. In 1968, Fo and Rame founded Associazione Nuova Scena theatre collective with movable stages, which toured throughout Italy. In Milan, an abandoned factory was converted into a theatre and became the home of another new stage company, Il Capannone di Via Colletta. The collective had links to the Italian Communist Party, but Fo openly criticised the Party's methods and policies in his plays. Soon the Party's press opposed him as much as the Catholic Church, and many performances were cancelled. Fo had never been a Communist Party member but the conflict made Rame resign her Party membership.^{[citation needed]}

Fo withdrew all rights to perform his plays in Czechoslovakia in protest after Warsaw Pact forces crushed the Prague Spring in 1968, and refused to accept cuts demanded by Soviet censors. Productions of his plays in the Eastern Bloc ended. In 1969, he presented for the first time Mistero Buffo ("Comic Mystery"), a play of monologues based on a mix of medieval plays and topical issues. It was popular, and ran for 5000 performances, some even in sports arenas.^{[citation needed]}

1970s[link]

Dario Fo in Cesena (in 2008)

In 1970, Fo and Rame left Associazione Nuova Scena due to political differences. They began their third theatre group, Collettivo Teatrale La Comune. It produced plays based on improvisation about contemporary issues. Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1970) criticized abuse of forces of law and order; he wrote it after a terrorist attack on the Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Milan. Fedayin (1971) was about a volatile situation in Palestine and performers included genuine PLO members. From 1971-85, the group donated part of its income to support strikes of Italian labor organizations. In 1973 the company moved to Rossini Cinema in Milan.

When Fo criticised police in one of his plays, police raids and censorship increased. On 8 March, a fascist group, reportedly commissioned by high ranking officials in Milan's Carabinieri, the Italian federal police, kidnapped Franca Rame, torturing and raping her.^[3] Rame returned to the stage two months later with new anti-fascist monologues.

Later in that year, the company occupied an abandoned market building in Central Milan and dubbed it the Palazzina Liberty. They opened in September with Guerra di popolo in Cile, about a rebellion against Chilean military government. It was written because of the deposing and assassination of Salvador Allende. Fo was arrested when he tried to prevent police from stopping the play. The 1974 play, Can't Pay? Won't Pay!, was a farce about the self-reduction movement where women (and men) would take what they wanted from markets, only paying what they could afford. In 1975, Fo wrote Fanfani rapito in support of a referendum for the legalization of abortion. Fo was nominated for the Nobel Prize for the first time.

In 1976, the new director of RAI2, Massimo Fichera, invited Fo to create a new programme, Il teatro di Dario (Dario's Theatre). However, when the second edition of Mistero Buffo' was shown on Italian television in 1977, the Vatican described it as "blasphemous", prompting complaints from Italian right-wingers. Rame, however, was awarded an IDI prize for Best Television Actress. In 1978, Fo made the third version of Mistero Buffo. He also rewrote and directed La storia di un soldato (Story of a Soldier), based on an opera by Igor Stravinsky. It was a success. Later he adapted operas from Gioacchino Rossini. He also wrote a play about the murder of Aldo Moro, but it has never been performed in public.^{[citation needed]}

1980s[link]

In 1980, Fo and his family founded a retreat, the Libera Università di Alcatraz, in the hills near Gubbio and Perugia. They bought the valley bit by bit. The retreat is currently run by Fo and Rame's son, Jacopo Fo.

In 1981, Cambridge's American Repertory Theater invited Fo to perform in the Italian Theatre Festival in New York. The United States Department of State initially refused to grant Fo a visa but agreed to issue a six-day visa in 1984 after various U.S. writers protested the ruling. In 1985, he received another visa and performed at Harvard University, Repertory Theater, the Yale Repertory Theater, Washington's Kennedy Center, Baltimore's Theatre of Nations and New York's Joyce Theatre.

Despite the acclaim, Fo continued to experience problems. In 1983, Italian censors rated Coppia Aperta forbidden to anyone under the age of 18. During a performance in Argentina, a saboteur threw a tear gas grenade, and performances were disturbed by youths who threw stones at the windows. Catholics picketed the performance with large religious pictures.^{[citation needed]}

In 1989 Fo wrote Lettera dalla Cina to protest the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Since 1990[link]

On 17 July 1995, Fo suffered a stroke and lost most of his sight; Rame subsequently took his place in productions for awhile. He recovered almost fully within a year.

In 2006, Fo made an attempt to run for mayor of Milan, the most economically important city of Italy, finishing second in the primary election held by the centre-left The Union. Fo, who received more than 20% of the vote, was supported by the Communist Refoundation Party.

Franca Rame was elected as senator for the Italy of Values party in the 2006 Italian general election held from 9-10 April 2006. As of 2010, Fo and Rame are independent members of the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC – Partito della Rifondazione Comunista).^[4]

Fo remains an active participant and campaigner on various political, social and cultural issues.^[5] Fo questioned the official accounts of the September 11 attacks and the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings in the film. ^[6]

Awards and honours[link]

• 1981 Sonning Prize from Copenhagen University
• 1985 Premio Eduardo Award
• 1986 Obie Award in New York
• 1987 Agro Dolce Prize
• Honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (in Belgium)
• 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature

List of works[link]

Translated titles

• Archangels Don't Play Pinball (1959)
• He Had Two Pistols with White and Black Eyes (1960)
• He Who Steals a Foot is Lucky in Love (1961)
• Isabella, Three Tall Ships, and a Con Man (1963)
• Mistero Buffo (Comic Mystery, 1969)
• The Worker Knows 300 Words, the Boss 1000, That's Why He's the Boss (1969)
• Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1970)
• Fedayin (1971)
• We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! (Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!) (aka Can't Pay? Won't Pay!) (1974)
• Mama's Marijuana is the Best (1976)
• All House, Bed, and Church (1977)
• The Tale of a Tiger (1978)
• Trumpets and Raspberries (1981)
• The Open Couple (1983)
• Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman (1984)
• One was Nude and One wore Tails (1985)
• Abducting Diana (1986) – Adapted to English in 1996 by Stephen Stenning
• The Tricks of the Trade (Manuale minimo dell'attore) [1987] (1991)^[7]
• The Zeedonk and the Shoe (1988)
• The Pope and the Witch (1989)
• A Woman Alone (1991)
• Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas (1992)
• The Devil with Boobs (1997)
• The First Miracle of the Infant Jesus
• Orgasmo Adulto Escapes from the Zoo
• About Face
• The Virtuous Burglar
• Francis The Holy Jester (2009)

English translations

A number of Fo's plays have been translated into the English language, including Abducting Diana and St Francis – The Holy Jester (Beautiful Books Limited, UK, 2009)

References[link]

Literature[link]

• Scuderi, Antonio: Dario Fo: Framing, Festival, and the Folkloric Imagination. Lanham (Md.): Lexington Books, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7391-5111-2.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dario Fo

• Dario Fo at Nobelprize.org (English)
• Official website of Fo's candidacy as Mayor of Milan (Italian)

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