In Italy, a museum is being built in honor of Dario Fo, who died in 2016, and his wife Franca Rame. The museum is planned in the central Italian city of Pesaro. Eight million euros have been made available for the project on which Mattea Fo, granddaughter of the literary couple, is working.
Fortress is being restored
The museum will be housed in the Renaissance fortress of Rocca Costanza in Pesaro, which is to be restored with funding from the Italian Ministry of Culture. “Dario Fo and Franca Rame were an exceptional couple, a point of reference for the world of culture, an example of civic and political commitment. It will be a privilege to host a piece of our country’s history in Pesaro,” said Mayor Matteo Ricci.
Place for archive
The museum, which will also serve as a cultural center, will house, among other things, Fo’s archive. With this, the city of Pesaro hopes to strengthen its bid to be one of the ten finalists in the race for the title of Italian Capital of Culture 2024. Dario Fo was associated with the Rossini Opera Festival of Pesaro.
The theater duo
Dario Fo received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997. With his wife he formed what is probably the best-known Italian theater duo. They were particularly popular for their politically and socially engaged plays. The couple has always found inspiration in the traditional theater of the Commedia dell’Arte and its socially critical monologues.
wife as co-author
The Fo-Rame couple mostly staged plays they had written themselves. Rame was best known for her talent for improvisation. Although only Dario Fo was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997, those in the know claimed that his partner played just as much a part in the work as he did. Several works were created in joint authorship. Fo himself always spoke of “our Nobel Prize”.
