Archangels Don't Play Pinball

Archangels Don't Play Pinball
Written by	Dario Fo
Original language	Italian

Archangels Don't Play Pinball (Italian title: Gli arcangeli non giocano al flipper) is a 1959 two-act play by Dario Fo. The play uses the metaphor of a pinball machine—a new innovation in Italy at the time of and one of which Fo and his wife Franca Rame were fond— to convey mechanisation and conspicuous consumption.

A group of young Milanese men play a prank on one of their group - "Lofty". They arrange a fake marriage to a prostitute, who pretends to be a beautiful Albanian princess. Lofty has a problem - he needs to get identity papers from the Ministry. The only way he can do this is to become a dog. He is taken into a local kennel, where he is eventually bought by a circus owner. After various further adventures, Lofty eventually awakes, only to find that it has all been a dream. But the lovely lady is still there with him. Archangels don't play pinball with people's lives.

The play is also noted for its use of song. One example is "Stringimi forte i polsi" (Hold my wrists tightly together) which the protagonist Il Lungo (Stretch) sings to an "Albanian" prostitute whose wrists he is bound to. It would later be the theme tune to the TV programme Canzonissima.

Ed Emery has carried out an authorised English translation.

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