SOURCE: "Dario Fo, Politics and Satire: An Introduction to Accidental Death of an Anarchist," in Theater, Vol. 10, No. 2, Spring 1979, pp. 7-11.

Cowan presents a brief survey of Fo's career and the background of Accidental Death of an Anarchist, and offers a concise appreciation of the play itself

I The Author

Dario Fo is one of Italy's most popular and successful playwrights. He is also an actor, director, choreographer, set and costume designer, painter, graphic artist, poet, musician, scholar, cultural organizer and political activist. Such extraordinary versatility approaches the fifteenth and sixteenth century ideal of the cultivated individual; it may not seem surprising that Fo comes from the country which gave birth to the popular concept of the "Renaissance man." However, in the most fundamental respect, his work arises out of the specific conditions of contemporary Italian society, and reflects the profound social, economic and political tensions which have...