Dario Fo's "We Won't Pay!"
At Nora Theatre

The Nora Theatre Company will present Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo’s work of politics and hilarity, "We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!," at Central Square Theater, September 4 - 28. From a translation by Ron Jenkins, Nora’s Associate Director, the production will be directed by Daniel Gidron.

In the satire written in 1974, housewives have had enough. With prices growing higher, it’s time for them to take matters into their own hands. However, the challenge is how to keep their husbands from finding out that they’ve stormed the supermarket! With stolen olives, bird seed and pasta, this farcical comedy about a housewives’ revolution against inflation looks at hypocrisy, injustice and liberation with a healthy dose of hysterics thrown in for good measure.

Italian born Dario Fo is a playwright, actor, director, theatrical designer, composer, outspoken theatrical activist, and a skilled satirist, whose works address topics taken from the headlines. He has written 70 plays, many of which have been translated into more than thirty languages and performed in more than fifty countries. Fo won the Nobel Prize For Literature 1997, after having been previously nominated in 1975. He has also been awarded an Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

Ron Jenkins’ translation of "We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! " had its first public reading at Harvard University’s Learning from Performers series in 1998, premiering on stage at the American Repertory Theatre in 1999. Jenkins began his research on Dario Fo in Italy in 1985 with the support of a Sheldon Fellowship from Harvard University, and was also awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, which enabled him to spend nearly a year translating, directing,and writing about Fo's works. With an extensive history writing and lecturing about Fo, he has directed plays by Fo in Israel, Lithuania and throughout the United States.

Daniel Gidron has directed more than 15 productions for The Nora, as well as for Lyric Stage Company, Shakespeare & Company, Peterborough Players, Jewish Theatre of New England, and Merrimack Repertory Theatre, among others. He has also directed at the Habimah National Theatre, Jaifa Municipal Theatre and Arab Theatre (a production of Dario Fo’s "Accidental Death of an Anarchist") in Israel.

The cast of "We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! " includes Stephanie Clayman, Elise Manning, Rob Najarian, Antonia Ocampo-Guzman, and Scott Severance.

The Central Square Theatre is located at 450 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. For information and tickets, call 617-576-9278.

Note: There will be a special presentation by translator Ron Jenkins at the Sept. 11 performance.

-- OnStage Boston