More than a playwright, Dario Fo is a "theatrical activist," a successful comedian who has been performing and writing for radio, television, film, cabaret, and theater for decades. One of Italy's most renowned dramatists, Fo's avant-garde approach is, in fact, a modern renewal of the commedia dell'artecommedia dell'arte. In the late 1960s, he formed the theater company La Nuova Scena (The New Scene), which produced politically committed shows in meeting halls of leftist organizations. One noteworthy example is Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1970), which is still performed, its content constantly updated from a radical Marxist standpoint to reflect current events. It was performed in New York City in 1985. Dario Fo won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997.
