They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay!

Flashpoint, 916 G Street, NW, Washington DC 20001

Website: www.aticc.org Phone: (703) 475-4036 Email: ambassadortheater@aticc.org

Washington, DC, January 7, 2016

–For immediate release—
In Partnership with the Embassy of Italy and Italian Cultural Institute

Ambassador Theater Presents

The Washington DC Premiere of
THEY DON’T PAY? WE WON’T PAY! By Dario Fo
Translated by Jon Laskin and Michael Aquilante
Produced by Hanna Bondarewska

Directed by Joe Martin

Featuring: Hanna Bondarewska, Moriah Whiteman, Darren Marquardt, Mitch Irzinski and Peter Orvetti

The Team of Ambassador Theater is thrilled to celebrate 90th Birthday of Dario Fo and present a DC Premiere of They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! (Non si paga, non si paga!) This is one of the greatest European comedies of the 20th Century, which caused the future Nobel Prize-winning playwright Dario Fo to be brought to trial for incitement. This working class farce set during a time of economic collapse, begins with an episode of mass shoplifting by working class women from food stores, due to price hikes. It soon converges with the shipping of cheap contraband food from Asia as well as work stoppages and strikes. As a result of the “liberation” of food from grocery stores, a peculiar number of pregnant-looking women in coats are being pursued by the authorities everywhere. One of these working class women, Antonia, must deal with her legalistic husband, Giovanni—a union member who plays by the rule-book. She must also explain the unexpected “pregnancy” of his best friend Luigi’s wife, Margherita, a fact that  Giovanni in turn “reveals” to Margherita’s husband. But soon the raids by authorities seeking contraband food close in on their neighborhood, and chaos ensues.

Though the piece has been called a “comedy of hunger,” it is also about the bigger financial farce that results if the victims of financial collapse—brought about by capitalism run-amok—are asked to pay for the disaster while the guilty parties are bailed out. This play by a master playwright and performer, is both physical comedy and a comedy of wit, sometimes in “boulevard” style. Fo has roots in Commedia dell’Arte, and the influence shows in this modern farce. In awarding him the Nobel Prize for Literature—there is no theatre category!—the Nobel committee remarked in 1997 that Dario Fo “emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.”
WHERE: Mead Theatre Lab at FLASHPOINT916 G Street NW, Washington DC
WHEN: March 1 – March 26, 2016; Wednesdays – Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Matinees Sundays at 3:00 pm
Previews March 1, 2 at 7:30 pm;

VIP Opening & Reception follows March 3 at 7:30 pm
Press Night: Sat, March 5, 7:30 pm; Special Q&A after the show with the Special Guest, Italian Actor, longtime collaborator of Dario Fo, Mario Pirovano, director, Joe Martin and actors
TICKETS: $20 – $40 Online: http://www.aticc.org/home/category/get-tickets

For 14 + Audiences

Media/Press: please e-mail us to reserve your tickets!