REVIEW -- THE DEVIL IN DRAG (Il diavolo con le zinne)
by DARIO FO
English version by Ed Emery

Performed by LANCASTER FOOTLIGHTS
YOUTH THEATRE

The Grand Theatre, St Leonardgate, Lancaster
Thursday 23 to Saturday 25 March 2006

A wonderful, wicked and wacky play
given full thrutch at The Grand

Now nearly 80, veteran Italian playwright Dario Fo won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997 for his wicked and mordant satire, his unabashed coarse humour and unremitting work as an actor, theatre historian, political activist, writer and teacher since the early 1950s.

And he is a tireless labourer: The Devil in Drag was first written in the year of his Nobel, and subsequently emerged in the National Theatre's youth theatre New Connections 1999 initiative, and he has continued to produce new work even in the new millennium.

And what a wonderful, wicked and wacky play it is too. Full of anarchic comedy, it's as if Aristophanes meets Fawlty Towers and Spitting Image, with shades of Commedia dell'Arte and Shakespeare's most brilliant verbals and visuals.

And a full-blooded, totally in-your-orifices production it was too. Director David Ash pulled together a group of very able youngsters aged between 14 and 18, and gave them full rein to rampage, ravage and relish Fo's whirlwind text, albeit with some judicious cuts.

The action, uncannily hovering between slapstick and political savagery, was delivered at breakneck pace and - good idea! -- without a break. We came away feeling dizzy and aching with laughter, for these youngsters had picked up on the abundant comic visual and verbal potential of the rich humour in the text.

No blushes were spared as we ogled credulously at the five-in-a-bed romp, followed the human-diabolical suppository on his (?) dark journey, watched the cardinal enjoy ‘pickled faggots' (they weren't -- think horse droppings) tried in vain to work out who was what gender (it doesn't matter, since you ask) and the finely executed doppel- and triple-gangers who confused and bewildered everyone else on stage as well as the audience.

There was some fine acting here, not least because to play Fo well enormous energy is required and lighting-sharp timing. Body language and slick movement, often bawdy, coarse and always athletic, were also superb. Invidious as it can be only to mention a few of the cast, I have to commend Luke Kershaw's manic and wonderfully controlled portrayal as Alfonso Ferdinando de Tristano the upright but doomed Judge - with just enough Julian Clary.

Of the women, Michelle Alexander was splendid as a Pizzocca Ganassa (there's a name to conjure with!), the Judge's archetypal Lancashire matronly hosekeeper - no, I know it's a typo but let it stand [sic]. The performances of the various and multitudinous devils were also of sterling quality.

In fact there was no weak link in the production at all, except to regret some of the cuts. But, on the other hand, it is always good to ‘leave them wanting more'. And the timing of the show was impeccable, as Italy faces general elections soon to elect yet another government, and issues of corruption and sleaze are endemic in the cradle of Christianity and the birthplace of the Renaissance.

All in all, then, an utterly up-to-the-minute, manic, magical and gloriously politically incorrect evening. The audience on Thursday night loved every minute of it and the guffaws came thick and fast, and the looks of retentive disbelief on some presumably parental faces were a joy to behold.

When do we see some more Fo at The Grand, and what is the Footlights Youth Theatre doing next, please?

Copyright © 24 March 2006 Michael Nunn

Postscript:
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has successfully fought off corruption charges over his business dealings for well over a decade. See: this news item on BBC News. He and his right-wing Forza Italia party are seeking re-election in Italy within the next two weeks.

Italy is widely seen as one of the most corrupt countries in Europe
(see http://www.transparency.org/publications/annual_report)

Dario Fo is currently seeking election as the Mayor of Milan. His 2003 play, The Two Headed Anomaly, is a thinly disguised attack on the Prime Minister and President Vladimir Putin. See this news item from BBC News.

Other Links:
A useful resource on the play:
www.emery.archive.mcmail.com

Notes on the National Theatre première of the play:
website-archive.nt-online.org/youth/plays/devil.html

Nobel Prize website on Dario Fo and Franca Rame:
nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1997/fo-bio.html

and the Nobel citation:
nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1997/presentation-speech.html

NT's youth theatre/education:
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/education