Dario Fo, dedič commedie dell’arte?
Dario Fo, Heir to the Commedia dell’ Arte?

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the artistic practice of the Italian theatre-maker Dario Fo within the context of the commedia dell’arte tradition. In the first part, the author identifies two key shifts in Fo’s interpretation: the idealization of the genre’s political dimension and the rejection of its aristocratic background. In the second part, the study draws on audiovisual and photographic documentation of the seminal production Mistero Buffo, focusing in particular on the section La fame dello Zanni, and analyses four fundamental pillars of Fo’s acting: vocal work, physicality, spatial relations, and montage. The study concludes that Fo’s distinctive style is not the result of a linear artistic inheritance from the sixteenth century, but rather a synthesis of modern variety theatre, mime training, and genial mystification. Fo therefore does not simply revive a defunct tradition; instead, through a process of “faithful betrayal”, he forges a modern theatrical language.

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