Product Description
This is the first extended treatment of the English translations, stagings, and reception of the political plays of Dario Fo and Franca Rame. Focusing on the United Kingdom and the United States, Stefania Taviano offers a critique of the cultural stereotyping and political conservatism that have pursued these playwrights in translation and argues for the possibility of remaining true to Fo and Rame's political commitment while preserving the comic nature of their plays. Taviano shows how the choices made by the translators and stagers of Fo and Rame's political theatre reveal attitudes toward foreign cultures and theatre generally and Italy in particular. Among the questions she poses are 'What characterizes the process of acculturation that takes place when political theatre is transposed from one culture to another?' 'To what extent are images of foreign literary production affected by dominant translation practices and theatre traditions?' Perhaps most important, 'What constitutes political theatre in a given society, and how are such definitions used to categorize and contain theatre texts that are disturbing, challenging, and difficult to stage?'Her book concludes with an investigation of the meaning of Fo and Rame's political theatre today that points the way for future critical studies of the politics behind the translation and stage production of political theatre outside its culture of origin. ... Read more

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This volume collects the 1988 papers of The Society for Italian Studies, comprising Volume Six in the series "The Italian Origins of European Theatre". ... Read more

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Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Dario Fo is one of the world's most important contemporary playwrights, forging subversive wit and unusual linguistic experimentation into a comedy of complete originality.The Peasants' Bible is a collection of five monologues drawn from Italian folklore but filtered through Fo's delightfully singular lens-for example, an Adam and Eve who are passionately entwined like peas in a pod; a race between two classes of men struggling for power that resembles the legend of the Hare and the Tortoise-to form a Bible of the common man. In The Story of the Tiger, we find a Fourth Army soldier injured fighting Chiang Kai-shek's army, saved from starvation by being suckled by an enormous tiger, who then comes back to defeat Kai-shek by using model tigers in combat. Together the pieces are an extraordinary addition to Fo's body of work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

entertaining
this was an entertaining read. the book is essentially a collection of short stories, parodies of bible stories. the first story i enjoyed the most. it was a retelling of adam and eve, told from eve's perspective. the tone she sets is comical in a common sense kind of way.
there is a part, when she has her period, when she turns to a goddess and she says that the goddess has to hide in a cave so that god doesn't see her and other deities like her. i found this to very symbolic of how though christianity become the dominant religion, other, older forms of worship didn't completely disappear, the just went underground, so to speak, but still had an effect on the people.
one of my many impulse purchases, but it was a great read. ... Read more

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Dario Fo: winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Literature. Dario Fo and Franca Rame are Italy's best-known performers, playwrights and political activists. Award-winning actress and director Estelle Parsons toured this version, concluding with a triumphant run at Joseph Papp's Public Theater in New York. The nine monologue pieces are: A WOMAN ALONE; MAMMA FRICCHETONA (THE FREAK MOMMY); WAKING UP; WE ALL HAVE THE SAME STORY; DIALOGUE FOR A SINGLE VOICE; MEDEA PROLOGUE; MEDEA; MONOLOGUE OF A WHORE IN A LUNATIC ASYLUM; and IT HAPPENS TOMORROW. ... Read more

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4 plays - Waking Up, A Woman Alone, The Same Old Story and Medea. ... Read more

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The most revealing look at breasts.

Photographs of breasts are everywhere: in museums, on book covers, in fashion ads, and on posters. Alluring symbols of womanhood, breasts have fascinated generations of image makers. Here, for the first time between two covers, is the breast in photography: the titillating breast, the maternal breast, the aging breast, and the symbolic breast.

In Master Breasts, darkly witty political images of the 1970s jostle for space with Edward Weston's classic nudes; Nan Goldin's friends share pages with Robert Mapplethorpe's gorgeously sculptured models. From Alfred Stieglitz's classic studies of Georgia O'Keeffe to Mary Ellen Mark's vivid documentary portraits, they are all here. Other artists include Cindy Sherman, Imogen Cunningham, and Sally Mann.

A witty and reflective Introduction from the acclaimed novelist and essayist Francine Prose further links the images, while a monologue from Karen Finley's recent performance piece American Chestnut, "The Detective," reveals a young girl's anguish about breast-inspired catcalls and jokes and then sardonically calls for similar cultural treatment of the male anatomy. Finally, in Nobel Prize-winner Dario Fo's radically funny play The Story of the Tiger, the benefits of breast-feeding are celebrated as never before.
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Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent
THis is THE book for Big Breast lovers, which, in this modern age, is a relatively rare phenomenon.

Interesting insight, and fresh "views" of the breast.
Perhaps not quite what we expected. We (my girlfriend and I) are both interested in what roles the breast plays in sociology and in culture, and hoped this book would grant us some fresh perspectives.

There are very interesting and provocative (but I certainly wouldnt call them erotic by any means) images in this book, as well as some fascinating art. Some of it we really would love to have framed.

The images are suitable for anyone to look at, with only a few being tantalizing or vaguely... scintillating. It's the kind of book that is good to read sitting down with company and see how you and others react. Perfectly suitable for a bookshelf or coffeetable.

Breast views.
To use the words of Meema Spadola, breasts are symbols of sexuality, motherhood, and power. This book by Prose and Simic explores the spectrum of possibilities in this wide range of meanings. This is, though,photographic ART. Those who think that art should be readily pleasurable,appreciated, or liked may find themselves challenged by this format. If youfeel that art should be challenging, you may find this book appealing. Onviewing it one may be stimulated by novel and sometimes not necessarilypleasurable thoughts. This seems to contradict the implication in the titlethat there is something necessarily `titillating" here. (Certainly theconcept seems to stretch more common notion what is exciting, nasty andfun). For that I would deduct two stars. ... Read more