This site uses technical, analytics and third-party cookies.
By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies.

Preferences cookies

Theatre performance: Dario Fo’s “Francis, the Holy Jester” performed by Mario Pirovano -Canadian premiere!!

On the occasion of the 19th Edition of the “Week of Italian Language in the World” , Mario Pirovano will be performing Dario Fo’s, “Francis the Holy Jester” -Canadian premiere!!

Free Event with RSVP on Eventbrite (PLEASE CLICK HERE to RSVP)

Francis the Holy Jester is a one man show, a play which relies on the considerable skill of a highly experienced performer and the imagination of the audience. This is a show without props, without scenery and with the simplest of costume where the bond between the audience and the performer, and thus the material and subject is tangible, visceral. A whole range of characters from 13th Century Italy are brought to life before us: Popes and Cardinals, Dukes and Duchesses, soldiers on the battle field, traders in the marketplace and St Francis himself.

Mario Pirovano is a self-taught actor of great expressive quality. For years he came to listen to my performances and attended the lessons and demonstrations I gave to young actors. Eventually, he had absorbed, like a sump pump all of the tricks and “know-how” of the trade to the extent that he was capable of performing alone with great success. I personally attended a performance of his at the University of Florence, in the Faculty of Arts. I found him exceptional. Above all he didn’t parody me, he didn’t imitate me. He demonstrated an energy that was all his own, and the drive of an incredibly talented storyteller.”

(Dario Fo, Florence, June 1991)

  • Organized by: University of Toronto Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies, Queen's University, UTM, Carleton University
  • In collaboration with: Istituto Italiano di Cultura