A Level Drama & Theatre Studies PDF

A Level Drama & Theatre ADOAA – Dario Fo Component 3 –Text in Performance Studies Context...

A Level Drama & Theatre ADOAA – Dario Fo Component 3 –Text in Performance Studies Context Original Performance Conditions Dario Fo The action of the play is 1 Fo often performed outside of conventional 1 24 March 1926 - October 13th 2016. focused on the real-life events theatres, such as in public squares or Piazza Fontana of 1969 in the Piazza Fontana, occupied factories, wanting to bring his 2 Italian satirist, playwright, theatre director, actor 1969 Milan. message to the common people. and composer. Won the Nobel Prize in 1997 for Literature. 2 Fo intended the play to be intensely political during its initial run in Italy in 1970. 3 Fo’s work is characterised by criticism of organized crime, political corruption, political 3 The first performance took place in Milan Christian Democrats 1970, just a few hours after a demonstration assassination, the doctrine of the Catholic Church Italian Communists to commemorate the one-year anniversary and the conflict in the Middle East. The two main political parties in Underground forces of the Piazza Fontana bombing. 4 Worked with his wife on TV and in theatre. conspiring to keep the Communists out of 4 Fo did not advertise his play, yet even so, it Founded an acting group, ‘Campagnia Dario Fo – government, or to introduce a was so popular - and so timely - that 500 Franca Rame, in 1959. Plus many others over the non-democratic system people had to be turned away one night on years. Toured public spaces such as factories, (possibly fascist or the first run of performances. gymnasiums and parks. Italy : totalitarian) 5 Fo would also typically begin the evening by 5 Also worked on TV show Canzonissima, with his talking about current events and finishing wife, performing humerous sketches. Made them with a discussion of the historical context. He both popular and famous personalities. rewrote the play many times during rehearsals and also made alterations based 6 Their style is described as ‘agitprop theatre of on public reaction or in response to ongoing politics, often blasphemous and scatological, but events. rooted in the tradition of commedia dell’arte’. 6 There was a "third act" in each performance, 7 Wrote 70 plays, some of which have been Main Characters Italy in the1960s and 1970s: a debate between the actors and the translated into 30+ languages, modified to Italy's working class was fed audience Mania on the Pivotal issues raised, character. with “mad” Considered the reflectoflocal but the sanest political /social all characters. issues and smart, can Quick-witted Italy 1960s and up with dangerous working c intention of empowering negotiate theofaudience his way out toHe impersonates whoever he chooses. He exposes the anything. conditions, long hours, low think critically and hopefully contradictions take action. in the play. 1970s pay, expensive and uninhabitable housing, poor Bertoz He sets the context of the play in Act one and only returns in Act two to be a foil for a series of benefit packages. zo slap stick routines. Often the butt of jokes. He is abused verbally and physically. He is an indicator of the violent treatment the anarchist will have been subjected to. He also provides much slapstick humour. Inspec He connects the action of the play to the actual events of the Milan explosion. Represents a The working classes began to tor higher level of bureaucracy and status that deconstructs during the play. march and strike. Left-wing Pissan He falls for the Maniac’s disguise, and represents both the stupidity of the police, and their organizations, gaining power, tests and i hypocrisy rrorism including those on the Far Left, favouring revolution over Superi Oafish superior to Pissani. reform. Both left and right ndend Chief of police. Falls for the Maniac’s story just as Pissani does. A hypocrite, will go along with  A Level Drama & Component 3 – ADOAA – Dario Fo Theatre Studies Text in Performance Political Theatre Style and Features 1 Purpose: Satire The use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize Political theatre does not lecture people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary an audience on a particular politics and other topical issues. political belief system They are not interested only in Farce A type of comedy. Uses buffoonery, horseplay, crude and stereotypical entertaining their audiences. characterisation and ludicrously improbable situations Physical humour, miscommunications, absurdity and unrealistic 2 Political theatre attempts to situations are used in order to make the audience laugh. heighten the critical Fo used Farce because ”satirical laughter helps avoid the danger of consciousness of its audience, catharsis.” furthering their ability to sort through the complexities of Alienation Inspired by Brecht. modern life so as to make Prevents the audience from identifying too closely with any particular informed decisions about character or immersed in the story line. Fo does this mainly in ADOAA by weighty political issues. having the Maniac speak directly to the audience and also self reflexive techniques. 3 ADOAA encourages its audience to think critically about events Meta- Techniqies include: that were unfolding at the time theatre - the direct address of the audience in Italy. - an acknowledgement that the people performing are actors (and not actually the characters they are playing). 4 Alienates audience by using - an element whose meaning depends on the difference between the techniques to destroy the 4th represented time and place of the drama (the fictional world) and the wall. time and place of its theatrical presentation (the reality of the theatre 5 Direct address event) - the play-within-a-play 6 Self reflexive techniques (where Self When a play refers to itself as a play. the play describes itself as a Reflective play). Technique 7 Populist dimension – Political theatre is not written to be Commedia Italian theatre tradition popular from the mid-16th to the mid-18th elitist. Written for the average Dell’arte centuries. Actors wore masks. Actors at the heart of the playmaking person, using plain language process, improvising lines rather than precisely following a script. – Fo and slang. adapted his script, changing lines in response to the audience (Fo invites and allows Maniac is updated version of the ARLECHCHINO. Each of the maniacs  A Level Drama & Theatre ADOAA – Dario Fo Component 3 –Text in Performance Studies Plot Summary – Accidental Death of an Anarchist Act 1 Bertozzo is interrogating a fraudster (Maniac) who outwits him. When Bertozzo leaves the room, Maniac Scene intercepts a phone call from Pissani and finds out that a judge is coming to the station to look into the death of 1 an anarchist while in police custody. Maniac impersonates Judge Malipiero to humiliate the policemen responsible for the supposedly accidental death. Act 1 Malipiero, (Maniac), demands that Pisanni, Constable and Superintendent re-enact the interrogation. They Scene fabricate events, turning it into a farce, acting as if it was friendly conversation not tense interrogation. 2 Constable claims he grabbed the anarchist’s shoe to stop him falling. Maniac notes that the anarchist had both shoes on. Superintendent gets angry. Pissani reveals that Superintendent pushed anarchist out of the window. The phone rings. A journalist wants to meet them to clear up rumours about the interrogation and death. Act 2 Policemen tell the Maniac to leave. This gives Maniac chance to disguise himself as a Roman forensic scientist named Captain Piccini. Feletti presents the policemen with evidence that might expose them. Piccini comes up with a story about how the anarchist died. Feletti is sceptical. Bertozzo arrives, with a replica of a bomb from an anarchist attack. Bertozzo, realises that Maniac is in disguise. He holds the policemen and Maniac at gunpoint, ordering Feletti to cuff them. Maniac reveals a tape recorder that exposes their role in the anarchist’s death. He strips off his disguise, his true identity is Paulo Davidovitch Gandolpho, aka “Prose Pimpernel of the Permanent Revolution.” He reveals that the bomb replica is functional and sets it on a timer. Feletti attempts to stop him killing the policemen, calling him an extremist and a maniac. He tells her she can save them and put him in prison, or she can leave them to die for their crimes and join him as an accomplice. He then leaves to spread the recording. The play ends as the Maniac turns to the audience, telling them that if Feletti leaves the policemen, they die. However, if she saves them, they take her prisoner because she knows too much. He asks the audience which ending they prefer. Act 3 In the original run (1970), a 3 rd act was included following the end of act 2. This included a debate between Links for further information: actors and audience members on which characters were at fault and who was actually Themesthe ‘terrorist’ and ‘corrupt’ in the play. This would engage the audience to1 think about the issues raised and Political make connections to corruption https://thewire.in/the-arts/dario-fos-politics-absurdist- their own political, social and cultural circumstances. laughter 2 Truth versus illusion https://www.gradesaver.com/accidental-death-of-an- 3 Reform versus revolution anarchist/study-guide/essay-questions 4 Class struggle and oppression https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/ accidental-death-anarchist 5 Madness