Franca Rame

Franca Rame (born 18 July 1928) is an Italian theatre actress and playwright. She is also the wife of Nobel Prize winning author Dario Fo.

Life

Franca Rame was born in Parabiago, Lombardy, into a family with a long theatre tradition. She made her theatrical debut in 1951. Shortly thereafter, she met Dario Fo, whom she married in 1954. In 1958, she co-founded the Dario Fo—Franca Rame Theatre Company in Milan, with Fo as the director and writer, and Rame the leading actress and administrator.

Rame continued working with Fo through many plays and several theatre companies, popular success and government censorship. In the 1970s, Rame began writing plays (often stage monologues) of her own, such as "Grasso è bello!" and "Tutta casa, letto e chiesa", which displayed a markedly feminist bent. In 1973, Rame was abducted, tortured and raped by a fascist group commissioned by high ranking officials in Milan's Carabinieri, the Italian military police [ [http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=7952 Review article on biography of Rame and Fo] mentions the rape] . She returned to the stage after two months with new anti-fascist monologues.Their son, Jacopo was born on March 31, 1955.

Politics

Due to the activist, political nature of Fo's and Rame's plays, it is unsurprising that Rame herself became involved in politics. She currently is a member of the Italian Senate representing the centre-left anti-political corruption Italy of Values ("Italia dei valori") party.

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