Word: foã
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Dates: during 2001-2001
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...esteem with which he is held in academic circles is often equaled by the animosity shown by many of his audiences—not just the middle-class theatergoers to whom Fo often refers with contempt, but also the working-class and politically ostracized elements of society toward which Fo??€™s work appears most sympathetic...
...Johan Padan can be seen as a product of that experience, which comes close, at least thematically, to Fo??€™s own experiences in discovering America. Its main concerns are not unusual for Fo??€™s work: violence, ostracism and hypocrisy. But couched as they are in a story about coming to America, it would be surprising if the idea for the piece didn’t develop from Fo??€™s systematic exclusion from the land of the free...
Thomas Derrah, the actor who brings Fo??€™s work to life in this production at the A.R.T., understands this. Taking the performances of Fo himself as a model, Derrah and director Ron Jenkins have put entertainment first and politics second in their Johan Padan...
...didn’t speak a word, Derrah’s ebullient gestures would be enough to entertain an audience. In addition to his movements, though, Derrah tells Fo??€™s story with the passion and commitment of a true believer in the power of comedy...
Unfortunately, recent events have grown too terrible even for the king of all jesters. Johan Padan was supposed to be the beginning of a three-part festival celebrating Dario Fo??€™s stage career; he and his long-time collaborator Franca Rame had scheduled a return to the A.R.T. for performances of Mistero Buffo and Sex? Thanks, Don’t Mind If I Do. Now, however, those performances have been canceled...