The Open Couple

The Open Couple, as with some of Dario Fo's other play's, is a romantic play which was written with his wife, fellow leftist Franca Rame. It was written in 1983.

Cast

• Dario Fo (husband)
• Franca Rame (wife)

Overview

In this farce about sexual politics in marriage, a man persuades his suicidal wife that an open marriage is politically correct and embarks on dalliances with younger women, to her dismay and fury. After deciding to be on her own, the tables are turned when she confesses to a new man, Nobel prize nominated professor and inspired singer songwriter; it is the husband who becomes suicidal.

Other plays by Dario Fo

Note: These are the English names of the works. 

1950 - 1959

• Archangels Don't Play Pinball (1959)

1960 - 1969

• He Had Two Pistols with White and Black Eyes (1960)
• He Who Steals a Foot is Lucky in Love (1961)
• Isabella, Three Tall Ships, and a Con Man (1963)
• Mistero Buffo (Comic Mystery, 1969)
• The Worker Knows 300 Words, the Boss 1000, That's Why He's the Boss (1969)

1970 - 1979

• Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1970)
• Fedayin (1971)
• We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! (Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!) (aka Can't Pay? Won't Pay!) (1974)
• Mama's Marijuana is the Best (1976)
• All House, Bed, and Church (1977)
• The Tale of a Tiger (1978)

1980 - 1989

• Trumpets and Raspberries (1981)
• The Open Couple (1983)
• Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman (1984)
• One was Nude and One wore Tails (1985)
• Abducting Diana (1986) – Adapted to English in 1996 by Stephen Stenning
• The Tricks of the Trade (Manuale minimo dell'attore) [1987] (1991)
• The Zeedonk and the Shoe (1988)
• The Pope and the Witch (1989)

1990 - 1997

• A Woman Alone (1991)
• Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas (1992)
• The Devil with Boobs (1997)

1997 - Present

• The First Miracle of the Infant Jesus
• Orgasmo Adulto Escapes from the Zoo
• About Face
• The Virtuous Burglar
• Francis The Holy Jester (2009)