As long as there is censorship, Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s thought will keep its cultural importance and its revolutionary and shocking capability to fight any dictatorship or any attempt to suppress freedom of thought.

Those who censor take the right to limit the ideas of others and Dario Fo and Franca Rame fought against that their whole lives.

This is not the first time that Dario and Franca’s works are considered dangerous by those who are afraid of free movement of ideas. This happened in Massa Martana, in the province of Perugia, where Il Primo miracolo di Gesù Bambino (The First Miracle of the Baby Jesus) could not be staged. This was a very little but meaningful censorship.

Mistero Buffo, 51 years after its debut, is still triggering discussion in certain circles.
Controversy on this work broke out in 1977 when it was broadcast by Rai.
However, the censorship of Dario Fo’s texts began long before, in 1952 with the Poer Nano monologue that was broadcast on radio. Than there were the comedies Il dito nell’occhio and I sani da Legare that aroused the attention of the state censorship, as told by the two authors in the book titled “Nuovo Manuale Minimo dell’Attore”.
Then, in 1962, there was the famous episode of Canzonissima, as a result of which Franca and Dario were “literally erased from television for 16 years. And in show business, it means to be banned for a life.”
Then Dario Fo, in 2009, decided to tell the story of Giotto and in this show he revealed a public secret: the wonderful paintings of the upper nave of the Basilica di Assisi are not the work of Giotto.
The show had to be staged in Assisi, but it was cancelled after the speech of the Bishop. It was eventually organized in Perugia, in front of the Church of Saint Francis.

The last censorship experienced by Dario Fo was the one he described as “a second Nobel Prize”. In fact, in 2016, he received news that his and Franca’s texts – together with those of Shakespeare, Cechov and Brecht – had been added to Index of banned authors in Turkey. In this regard, the author said: “When there is cultural autarky, it is a sad sign. When they go against theatre, against culture, it means that they are afraid of the point of view of others. They feel unsafe.”

Today, Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s thought is still a symbol of freedom and free movement of ideas. That’s why the Fondazione Fo Rame, that is loyal to its goals, invites you to join the petition.

Theatre is stage of life. It has always been an instrument of dissemination of culture. And censoring the authors is like gagging people.

For more information:

Article by Jacopo Fo about what happened in Massa Martana (PG) in occasion of the theatre show of Matthias Martelli: https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2020/08/27/il-comune-di-massa-martana-censura-mistero-buffo-ancora-ma-il-sindaco-di-sinistra-dice-che-non-e-vero/5912479/
(Article in Italian)

Interview with Dario Fo by Nanni Delbecchi published in Il Fatto Quotidiano – “Oggi c’è meno censura, è sufficiente il ricatto silenzioso di Dario sulla censura” (“Today there is less censorship, the silent blackmail of Dario on censorship is enough”): https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2015/08/27/dario-fo-oggi-ce-meno-censura-e-sufficiente-il-ricatto-silenzioso/1985495/
(Article in Italian)

Video with Dario Fo on the question of censorship in Turkey: https://youtu.be/XFbr6JKlig8


Signatories:

Mattea Fo – President of the Fondazione Fo Rame
Jaele Fo – Vice President of the Fondazione Fo Rame
Marco Marchetti – Councilor of the Fondazione Fo Rame
Carlo Petrini – Councilor of the Fondazione Fo Rame
Doriano Cranco – Councilor of the Fondazione Fo Rame

Put your full name in the comments section
to sign this open letter.