‘Il barbiere di Siviglia’ according to Dario Fo and his Debut as an Opera Director

peer reviewedThis contribution discusses Dario Fo’s opera stage-direction practice, by analysing his 1987 staging of ‘Il Barbiere di Siviglia’ by Gioachino Rossini, for the Nederlandse Opera of Amsterdam. The production marked Fo’s debut as an opera director. The documents preserved at the Franca Rame Dario Fo Archive are particularly useful to trace the creative and productive process of the staging. Sifting through letters, sketches, drawings and notes, it is possible to make a critical examination of the authorial strategies employed by Fo while presenting and justifying his personal reading of the ‘Barbiere’. An evaluation of its scenic results is also carried out by way of a comparison with the audio-visual recording, and the examination of the reception through several noteworthy reviews