Archangels Don't Play Pinball by Dario Fo
"Archangels Don't Play Pinball" is a three-act farce by Italian playwright Dario Fo, notable for its blend of humor and political satire. The play, inspired by a short story from Augusto Frassinetti, revolves around the character Lofty, who becomes embroiled in a series of absurd situations due to a group of mischievous youths who con him into a fake marriage and other chaotic scenarios. Set in the industrial outskirts of Milan, the narrative explores themes of identity and the absurdity of bureaucracy, with Lofty's misadventures highlighting the ridiculousness of officialdom.
The farce employs a structure reminiscent of traditional French comedic works, featuring mistaken identities and rapid comedic exchanges. Fo's innovative approach combines a consistent plotline with character development, diverging from his earlier revue-style works. The play also includes a Brechtian touch, where the intervention of archangels at the conclusion serves as a modern twist on the classic "deus ex machina." Despite its comedic nature, the play critiques government inefficiency and societal norms, which led to its censorship in Italy during the 1950s. Overall, "Archangels Don't Play Pinball" stands as a significant work in Fo's repertoire, marking his transition to more politically engaged theater and earning him international acclaim.
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Archangels Don't Play Pinball by Dario Fo
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First produced:Gli arcangeli non giocano a flipper, 1959 (first published, 1966; English translation, 1987)
Type of work: Play
The Work
Archangels Don’t Play Pinball was the first of a series of six plays that Fo produced with his wife at Milan’s Teatro Odeon, the equivalent of a Broadway or West End theater. A three-act farce with music, based on a short story by Italian writer Augusto Frassinetti, it is one of Fo’s most accomplished farces and his first play to be performed outside Italy. It has been performed many times since and has brought its playwright international recognition.
Structurally, Archangels Don’t Play Pinball is a fast-moving farce, with bedroom mix-ups and officious officialdom, similar to those crafted by such French farceurs as Georges Feydeau and Eugene Labiche. The intervention of the archangels at the play’s end parallels the deus ex machina of classic Greek theater as well as Brecht’s use of gods in Der gute Mensch von Sezuan (wr. 1938-1940, pr. 1943, pb. 1953; The Good Woman of Setzuan, 1948). It is Fo’s first play to combine political-satirical content with a Brechtian form, abandoning the revue-sketch and short farce format for a consistent plotline and character development. In the traveling company tradition of doubling roles, ten of the play’s twelve characters play several parts. The device becomes a source of farcical complication as the protagonist recognizes the players in their new identities.
The play is set in Milan’s industrial outskirts and introduces a gang of loutish youths given to conning tricks, who have made the hero, Lofty, the fall guy for their jokes. For example, they pay a harlot (Blondie) to set up a fake marriage with Lofty. When Lofty tries claiming a disability pension, he finds himself registered as a dog and must submit to being sent to a kennel. From there the story follows his struggles to clarify his identity and to defend himself against a series of mindless bureaucrats—from dog-catchers to a government minister. He encounters them in a number of farcical episodes in different locales. With his innocent, literal interpretation of situations, Lofty reveals them in all their absurdity. Ultimately, Lofty wakes up in a house in the red-light district, where he has suffered a fall and unconsciousness. He realizes that he has been dreaming. He is delighted to find himself mock-married to Blondie, and they subsequently find happiness in each other.
Fo’s satirization of government bureaucracy caused the play to be censored. The exposure of the failings of the conservative government was not lost on Italian audiences of the 1950’s. By his own admission, Fo, dealing at the time with a middle-class audience, had to make social and political truths palatable by serving them in a sauce of farcical satire.
Bibliography
Behan, Tom. Dario Fo: Revolutionary Theater. London: Pluto Press, 2000.
Cairns, Christopher, ed. The Commedia dell’Arte from the Renaissance to Dario Fo. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 1989.
Cowan, Suzanne, comp. “Dario Fo: Bibliography, Biography, Playography.” London: Theatre Quarterly, 1978.
Farrell, Joseph. Dario Fo and Franca Rame: Harlequins of the Revolution. London: Metheun, 2001.
Farrell, Joseph, and Antonio Scuderi, eds. Dario Fo: Stage, Text, and Tradition. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000.
Jenkins, Ron. Dario Fo and Franca Rame: Artful Laughter. New York: Aperture, 2001.
Mitchell, Tony. Dario Fo: People’s Court Jester. 2d rev. ed. London: Metheun, 1986.
Schechter, Joel. “Dario Fo’s Obscene Fables.” Theatre 14 (Winter, 1982): 87-90.
Taviano, Stefania. Staging Dario Fo and Franca Rame: Anglo-American Approaches to Political Theatre. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2005.