The Tricks of the Trade

By Dario Fo

Book Overview

Clown, political activist, playwright, actor: Dario Fo is an unclassifiable genius of the modern theatre. In his "mini-manual for actors", Fo lays bare the tools of his craft. With the assistance of his wife, playwright and actress Franca Rame, he explains how text, song, humor, mime and political intelligence can be fused into a brilliant "popular theatre". Fo has been described as a cross between Bertolt Brecht and Lenny Bruce. Attacking all orthodoxies religious and secular, Fo uncovers the revolutionary impulses within the everyday absurdities of life. Perhaps even more than his plays, "Tricks of the Trade" reveals the essence of Dario Fo's art.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0878300074
• ISBN13: 9780878300075
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 95 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.8" x 6.5"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A freeing work from a brilliant actor/scholar.

In this book Dario Fo articulates the relationship between actor and audience in a way only someone who has accepted the physical and mental demands of the acting craft can do. Fo demonstrates he is one part actor, one part scholar, and one part inspired artist. Each page illustrates the line between how an actor acts and their audience cannot be separated from themselves, their society, or from the history of the craft. If nothing else, Fo's joy in performance helps explain why actors remain central to entertainment and to society.

Donald Sutherland praised this book on Charlie Rose 9/10/98

Donald Sutherland praised this book on Charlie Rose 9/10/98Donald Sutherland praised this book on Charlie Rose 9/10/98.That's good enough for me. I plan to buy it for my daughter - a fledgling Commedia artist.