Playwright & Nobel Prize in Literature Winner Dario Fo Dies at 90

The New York Times reports that Italian playwright, director and performer Dario Fo passed away today in Milan, Italy. He was 90. The news was confirmed by his Italian publisher, Chiarelettere.

Fo received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997. He penned over 80 plays, many co-written with his wife, Franca Rame, who passed away in 2013. His works have been translated into 30 languages.

The scribe was perhaps best known for his 1970 play ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST, which premiered at Broadway's Belasco Theater in 1984. The show told the story of an Italian railroad worker who was either thrown or fell from the upper story of a Milan police station while being questioned on SUSPICION of terrorism.

Among his other well-known works was MISTERO BUFFO, which was performed across Europe, Canada and Latin America over a 30-year period. The play is recognized as one of the most controversial and popular spectacles in postwar European theatre.

His receipt of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature marked the "international acknowledgment of Fo as a major figure in twentieth-century world theatre." He and his wife also co-founded a theatre company in Milan.

Image courtesy of Twitter/Dario Fo