General Context Flashcards
When was the play first performed and what was its broadway debut ?
5 December 1979
November 1984
What was going on in Italy in the late 60-70s
Italians mobilized by radical political philosophies calling for drastic changes to cure low wages and poor working conditions in factories
What happens to the Roman Catholic Church in 1970?
Lost some power in Italy such as the legalisation of divorce in 1969
Five reasons why Italian working class were fed up with Italy ?
Dangerous working conditions, long hours, low pay, expensive and uninhabitable housing and poor benefit packages
What did many on the left favour ?
Revolution over reform
What was the hot autumn ?
Autumn 1969 in Italy where unrest reached its peak
October 15,000 workers demonstrated in Milan and in November 100,000 Roman engineers demonstrated in Rome
How many bomb attacks took place in Italy from 69-70
173 bomb attack occurred in little more than a year
When and were was the bombing in ADOAA?
National Agricultural Bank in Piazza Fontana in Milan December 12, 1969
Killed 16 injured 88
80 socialists were arrested
What was Fo ?
A communist who was constantly at odds with the right wing authoritarian state
He wanted to attack fascism and Christian democracy
Seen as a leading modern political satirist
What is the play rooted in ?
Left wing political struggle agaisnt injustice, oppression and corruption
Who is the dead archaist ?
Giuseppe ‘pino’ Pinelli
At some point during his questioning he fell to his death
What did Lotta Continua do ?
As a newspaper they accused the police inspector Calabresi of killing Pinelli
The subsequent court case forms the backdrop for Fos political satire
Did Fo update the script ?
Sometimes daily as the trail progressed
It’s constantly updated to challenge the political message for the contemporary audience
What does ADOAA ask the aduaince ?
To consider a number of political question
‘Is it right to kill an innocent man with authority acting without consequence’
