THEATRE: MISTERO BUFFO

PREVIEW BY AMELIA GROOM

‘The most blasphemous show in the history of television’ was the Vatican’s outraged response to Dario Fo’s 1969 TV version of his play Mistero Buffo (‘Comic Mysteries’).
But despite that, the controversial satirist, playwright, virtuoso clown, theater director, stage and costume designer, actor and composer went on to become one of Italy’s most celebrated, and won the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature in 1997.
Mistero Buffo in particular has become a classic, translated into over thirty languages and readapted over the last four decades to new cultural and historical contexts, often incorporating local issues wherever the production is.
Opening at the Belvoir’s downstairs theatre this week is a selection of stories from Mistero Buffo (translated by Ed Emery), presented by Stage Left Productions. Intelligent and irreverent, it’s a comedy that crossbreeds medieval Christian parables with political and religious satire, and draws on the subversive power of the traditional ‘fool’ or jester. ‘In a time of oppression, only a fool speaks the truth,’ says Fo.
Through improvisation, storytelling, monologues and dialogues, Fo’s characters will amuse audiences with their subversive theology and raucous antics. Parodying gluttony, hypocrisy, blind faith, greed and corruption, Christ’s miracles and tribulations are told through the eyes of ‘common people’, and it’s evident that this provocative and persuasive comedy is as relevant now as ever.
Douglas Blaikie and Myles Pollard star in the production, and it’s directed by Bill Blaikie. Regretfully the Pope’s Sydney visit in July won’t coincide.

Mistero Buffo by Dario Fo
March 27 ‘ April 13
Belvoir St Downstairs Theatre
25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
Tues 7pm, Wed’Sat 8.15pm, Sun 5.15pm