The CU Italian Society brings Isabella, Tre Caravelle e un Cacciaballe (Isabella, Three Sailing Ships and a Con Man) by Dario Fo to Cambridge, played by a diverse cast of native and non-native Italian speakers.

 

The comedy, set between the 15th and 16th centuries, revolves around the tragicomic deeds of an actor who is sentenced to death for having performed a forbidden play by Fernando De Rojas. The unfortunate victim is already on the gallows when he is offered the chance to do one last show, waiting for his elusive pardon. Here starts the story of Colombo, from his first meeting with Isabella di Castiglia to the unfortunate end of the navigator, abused and persecuted by everyone.

 

Dario Fo (1926 - 2016) was an Italian actor, playwright, comedian, singer, theatre director, set designer, singer-songwriter, illustrator and political activist. His work flourishes through improvisation and includes the re-discovery of the ancient Italian style of the Commedia dell'Arte. His works, translated into over 30 languages, are a great indictment against corruption, organized crime, deviant political and religious power, racism and war. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997 as "international recognition of Dario Fo as one of the most important figures of the theatrical world of the twentieth century".

 

In Italian, with English captions.