Dialogue for a Single Voice

Born in Parabiago, Italy, in 1928, Franca Rame was an actress, playwright, and feminist, whose militant left-wing politics saw her elected to the Italian Senate. Her fifty-year collaboration with her husband, Nobel Prize – winner Dario Fo, included sharing in the writing and production (though she was not always credited) of many of Fo's plays. Fo, who called Rame his muse, dedicated his medal to her. She passed away in 2013.

Born in Sangiano, Italy, in 1926, Dario Fo is an Italian playwright, theater actor, and composer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997. The Nobel committee described him as a writer "who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden." His plays often depend on improvisation and utilize the Commedia dell'arte style. His most famous works are MISTERO BUFFO and ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST. He passed away in 2016.

Estelle Parsons is most widely known for her Academy Award – winning performance in Bonnie and Clyde and her ten years as Mother Bev on the hit sitcom Roseanne. In the theatre, she is known for her portrayal of the tyrannical eighth grade teacher in Roberto Athayde's classic about totalitarian power, MISS MARGARIDA'S WAY, which she performed on Broadway, all over the United States, and in London, Dublin, Turkey, and Australia. She has appeared in plays by the great writers of our time, including Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Dario Fo, Arthur Miller, Samuel Beckett, Paul Zindel, and Horton Foote. Estelle starred in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY by Tracy Letts on Broadway for a year and on the road for a year. Most recently she was seen in GOOD PEOPLE by David Lindsay-Abaire and the George and Ira Gershwin musical NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT with Matthew Broderick. In 2012, she was directed by Neil LaBute in Marco Calvani's THINGS OF THIS WORLD. As a director, she created the New York Shakespeare Festival Players for Joseph Papp in the 1980s. For two seasons, they performed Shakespeare on Broadway for New York City school students and their families in an effort to develop a multicultural audience for New York. She also directed Al Pacino in Oscar Wilde's SALOME: THE READING ON BROADWAY. Estelle Parsons is a member of the Actors Studio and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2004.