Saint Jullare Francis
by Dario Fo
with Ugo Dighero
adapted and directed by Giorgio Gallione
Saint Jullare Francis by Dario Fo is a fictionalised account of the life of the saint of Assisi, which draws on the styles and narrative forms of the legendary Mistero Buffo in the highly theatrical language of grammelot. Drawing on folk legends, canonical texts from the fourteenth century and documents that have come to light in recent decades, the Nobel Laureate weaves a powerful, playful and certainly non-hagiographic account of the “Jester of God”, as St Francis liked to call himself.
Fo’s story is – at the same time – spirituality and myth, fable and satire, and portrays Francis as a man who renounces all wealth to draw closer to the dispossessed, to preach a message of brotherhood and peace to men, wolves or birds, and to compose and set to music his The Canticle of the Creatures.
Giving voice to this daring journey, marking the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi, will be Ugo Dighero, a charismatic actor who for many years played the role of Mistero Buffo with the “blessing” and encouragement of Fo himself, a consummate showman and modern-day jester.
Furthermore, 2026 is also a special year for commemorating Dario Fo: it marks the centenary of his birth and the tenth anniversary of his death. It is impossible not to celebrate his extraordinary theatrical career. Staging this marvellous farce today cannot fail to take into account that in 2013 the late Cardinal Bergoglio, having become Pope, chose – symbolically, politically and for the first time in history – the name Francis: the saint of peace and the smile, of the care of creation, of the poor Church for the poor.
Following in Fo’s footsteps, the production will thus unfold along two parallel paths, retracing the historical reality of Francis’s journey through the Christian world whilst simultaneously recounting the reformist revolution that Pope Francis has sought to bring about in the Church of our time.
Free entry with booking via EventBrite (coming soon)
For further information:
Add to calendar
