Archangels Don't Play Pinball
Archangels Don't Play Pinball (Italian title: Gli arcangeli non giocano al flipper)[1] is a 1959 two-act play by Dario Fo. The play uses the metaphor of a pinball machine—a new innovation in Italy at the time of and one of which Fo and his wife Franca Rame were fond— to convey mechanisation and conspicuous consumption.[2]
Archangels Don't Play Pinball | |
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Written by | Dario Fo |
Original language | Italian |
Plot summary
![](../I/Dario_Fo%252C_Arhangeli_niso_avtomati%252C_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani.jpg.webp)
A group of young Milanese men play a prank on one of their group - "Lofty". They arrange a fake marriage to a prostitute, who pretends to be a beautiful Albanian princess. Lofty has a problem - he needs to get identity papers from the Ministry. The only way he can do this is to become a dog. He is taken into a local kennel, where he is eventually bought by a circus owner. After various further adventures, Lofty eventually awakes, only to find that it has all been a dream. But the lovely lady is still there with him. Archangels don't play pinball with people's lives.[3]
Song
The play is also noted for its use of song. One example is "Stringimi forte i polsi" (Hold my wrists tightly together) which the protagonist Il Lungo (Stretch) sings to an "Albanian" prostitute whose wrists he is bound to.[2] It would later be the theme tune to the TV programme Canzonissima.[4]
Translations
Ed Emery has carried out an authorised English translation.[5]
Further reading
References
- Mitchell 1999, p. 65
- Mitchell 1999, p. 67
- Mitchell 1999, pp. 65–70
- Mitchell 1999, pp. 67–68
- Fo, Dario. Archangels Don't Play Pinball, trans. Ed Emery, Methuen Books, London, 1987. Online version at http://www.geocities.ws/dariofoarchive/archangels.html