On 8 and 9 April, the Italian Cultural Institute in Amsterdam will present the show by Dario Fo and Franca Rame “Francis the Holy Jester”, played by Mario Pirovano. Mario Pirovano – actor and storyteller who has picked up the baton from Dario Fo and his wife Franca Rame, and translated their works into English – will present the show for the first time in the Netherlands.
The show is an unprecedented representation of Saint Francis, an innovator of Christian thought, but also addresses topics related to contemporary society. The historical reality and the popular tradition intertwine in retracing some of the most important moments in the life of Francis. Working on popular legends, canonical texts from the 14th century, and documents that became known in the last 50 years, Dario Fo created a non-hagiographic image of Saint Francis: stripped of the myth, we are faced with a provocative, coherent, courageous, and ironic character.
Mario Pirovano, who brings the work on stage, was defined by Dario Fo as a “self-taught person with great expressive qualities.” The Nobel Prize winner said: “For years, he listened to my performances, followed the lessons and demonstrations I gave to young actors. In the end, he absorbed all the tricks and ‘wisdom’ of the job, to the point of being able to very successfully perform on his own.”
