Home > University Theatre & Dance > Mainstage Season: Pope and the Witch
The Pope and the Witch
Written by Dario Fo
Directed by Robert Rosen
March 1–9, 2007
PERFORMANCES
3.1 at 7:30pm; 3.2 at 8pm; 3.3 at 8pm; 3.4 at 2pm; 3.7 at 7:30pm
3.8 at 7:30pm SOLD OUT; 3.9 at 8pm SOLD OUT
Opening Night Post-Show Reception: Thursday, March 1st
Thursday Evening Post-Show Talkback: Thursday, March 8th
ASL Interpreted: Friday, March 9th
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT: THE POPE AND THE WITCH
Play by Dario Fo – Winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature
I chose this play because it is political. It takes a stand on issues in the forefront of our daily lives. It is funny, irreverent and to the point. It was written, after all, by an epic clown, the foremost political farceur of our time. Some people will disagree with the message and still others with the means with which the message is conveyed. Students of the theatre must learn to use their art form to express their views of the world in which they live.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean political didacticism. We must also entertain.
With The Pope and the Witch, Dario Fo creates a world turned upside down.
The Pope is in crisis. 100,000 poor, starving orphans from third world countries are arriving in St. Peter’s Square in what he believes is a plot by fanatical birth control activists to embarrass him and the church. He becomes, literally, frozen with anxiety. There begins a surreal journey, guided by a healer from Burundi, into a world of poverty, drug addicts, Mafia hit men and illicit commerce.
Faced with these realities the Pope takes an unpopular stand: The man of great power takes the side of those who have no power. He puts out a revolutionary Encyclical and the world explodes into anarchy.
Absurd, grotesque frightening, and thought provoking, The Pope And The Witch will simultaneously amuse, engage and provide perspective. A fusion of comedy and vital reality.
Robert Rosen