Centenary of Dario Fo, the start in Rome. His son Jacopo: "They don't want us in Milan"

“We have been preparing for this day for a year and a half. The credit goes to my daughter Mattea and Stefano Bertea who worked incredibly hard, and to Carlo Petrini who had the idea to propose 100 commemorative events in 100 nations and 120 in Italy, and everything is going very well. We have published the world map with all the locations of the shows, it’s an impressive thing.”

So says Jacopo Fo to ANSA, on the day, March 24, when the celebrations for the centenary of his father’s birth, Dario Fo, began in Rome.

Why Rome and not Milano to start? “They don’t want us in Milan, the Municipality of Sala has torn up all the proposals we have made over the years. They are interested in collaborating; they will put a plaque under the house where my parents lived in their last years.”

Why is that? Isn’t it incredible because my father, when he decided to run for the mayoral primaries in Milan, made a spur-of-the-moment decision that made my mother incredibly angry, had a wonderful project for Milan: first of all, cutting energy waste and then the idea, in the disused area where all the skyscrapers are now, of not building anything, creating an immense park with all facilities for children, the elderly, for sports, etc., and reopening all seven canals of Milan. So it would be Venice in Milan, just think of the beauty with the boats. My father got 25% of the votes in the primaries, 75% of those from the Democratic Party voted for a candidate, by the way, a former prefect, who wasn’t even too leftist and who was later defeated in the elections. For those who have the courage to criticize, from a certain point of view, the left holds it against them more violently than the right,” emphasizes Jacopo Fo.

What is your goal in this centenary? “To make the world laugh and bring knowledge of commedia dell’arte abroad.”

The most beautiful memory he has of his father? The day my father was able to distribute 36 modified vans for disabled people to 36 associations. These vans were bought with Nobel Prize money. The day my father was able to see these people arriving and leaving with the van was a happier day than the day he received the Nobel. ”