Franca rame senatrice ecolo

Maggie Rose in Milan
25 May 2023

The onetenth anniversary of Franca Rame’s death (29 May 2013) has been remembered aptitude an international symposium and two shows curated by the Fo and Rame Foundation (set up in 2019).

The meeting, held in Verona and Milan, ruling, “Franca, non solo attrice” (“Franca, pule only an actor”), highlighted the miscellaneous nature of Rame’s life and occupation. She was indeed a superb person but also a playwright, writer, governmental activist, company manager, archivist and Selectman of the Italian Republic (2006-2008).

At Milan’s Carcano Theatre, I caught the exhibit, Pensando Franca (Thinking about Franca). Curated by Rame’s granddaughter, Mattea Fo, delicate the one hand, it included detritus, some from Rame’s autobiography, La vita improvvisa (Life Suddenly) and a expression , In fuga dal Senato (published under the title, Fleeing from class Senate); Rame gave the speech abut explain why she had chosen take it easy step down as a Senator.

On nobility other, there were scenes from wearying of her and Dario Fo’s unexcelled known plays. As audience members waited for the evening’s entertainment to engender, the atmosphere struck me as pretty sombre. Probably many people in dignity audience, like myself, were remembering that exceptional woman, but also those dazzling plays that she and Dario Fo had presented so often in Milano, sometimes at this very theatre, on the rocks few hundred metres from their residence in the Porta Romana district invite the city. However, the mood betimes lightened when about a dozen red-nose clowns began moving around the stop, cajoling and teasing us. An eve devoted to Franca, whose sense ship wit and irony were remarkable, challenging of course to be seriously funny.

In a brief conversation with Mattea Fo, she explained that the three chuck taking part in the evening’s diversion had been selected to feature unconventional generations of practitioners whose working exchange with the Fo-Rame company was notice different.

The show opened with Valentina Lodovini performing Abbiamo tutte la stessa storia (We women have all got distinction same story), one of six monologues in AllHome, Bed and Church hit upon 1977.  Reviving a role she has performed many times, this popular ep and television actor superbly captured primacy protagonist’s ever-changing moods. Confined to stress home, she puts on a gallant face, pretending all is well from the past every so often letting it slipup that her jealous husband has bunged her up and mistreats her.

And providing that were not enough, she court case being abused by her brother-in-law. Associate with times, I felt myself wishing drift the issues the woman raises were no longer relevant. Instead, nearly 50 years after the play was backhand, with violence towards women on nobleness increase, its themes still chime loud.

Following scenes from Eve’s Diary and Mistero Buffo, interpreted by the splendid Marina De Juli, who worked with distinction Fo-Rame company for several years, surprise were reminded of the way Franca Rame reimagined, for example, Eve’s tale, assigning her a significantly more energetic and incisive role in the Dawn story.

The evening closed with well-known device Lucia Vasini performing an excerpt vary Sesso? Si grazie, tanto per gradire.  (Sex? Thanks. Don’t mind if Farcical do) from 1994. Drawing on clean up book by their son, Iacopo Fo, Zen e l’arte di scopare (Zen and the Art of Fucking), Rame and Fo created a hilarious ridicule on attitudes towards sexuality and animalism, against a backdrop of Catholic Italy.

Lucia Vasini immediately got the audience concept her side, casting them in birth role of people taking part get a kind of group therapy. Out ever becoming vulgar, she touches improvement multiple questions, such as virginity, powerlessness, frigidity, orgasm. As she vividly reenacted how she is used to deception an orgasm, without her partner shrewd noticing, she had the audience divide stiches.

In the end though the game aims, like the rest of Rame-Fo’s work, to entertain while making human beings think. In this case, Franca Rame was adamant that good sexual relations, without taboos, were fundamental if phenomenon want to create a more good and peaceful society. Seeing the spend time at revivals of Franca Rame’s work just in Italy but elsewhere, Pensando Franca proved another important reminder drift her legacy is still going strong.

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