WE WON’T PAY, WE WON’T PAY by Dario Fo
Frank Theatre launches its 38th season of fearless, politically charged theater with Dario Fo’s riotous farce WE WON’T PAY, WE WON’T PAY (Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!), running October 30 through November 22, at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis.
When the cost of living spirals out of control and supermarket prices double overnight, a cohort of fed-up working-class housewives decide they’ve had enough. Led by Antonia and Margherita, the women spontaneously “liberate” groceries off the shelves, leaving them with a chaotic dilemma: how to hide their illicit hauls from their strictly law-abiding factory husbands. As police circle the neighborhood, an escalating barrage of absurd cover-ups unfolds, featuring fake pregnancies, miraculous saintly interventions, and full-throttle commedia dell’arte slapstick.
Written in 1974 by Italian actor-playwright and Nobel laureate Dario Fo, the play remains a razor-sharp, painfully funny portrait of ordinary people caught in an unforgiving economic grind.
“Fo understood that laughter is the ultimate weapon against powerlessness,” says director and Frank Theatre Artistic Director Wendy Knox. “At a moment when everyone is feeling squeezed by skyrocketing rent, groceries, and corporate greed, Fo’s comedy is solidarity. It’s loud, messy, subversive, and deeply human.”
Performance Times
Friday, October 30, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Saturday, October 31, 2026 – 7:30 PM (PWYC)
Sunday, November 1, 2026 – 2:00 PM
Thursday, November 5, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Friday, November 6, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Saturday, November 7, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Sunday, November 8, 2026 – 2:00 PM*
Thursday, November 12, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Friday, November 13, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Saturday, November 14, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Sunday, November 15, 2026 – 2:00 PM
Thursday, November 19, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Friday, November 20, 2026 026 – 7:30 PM
Saturday, November 21, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Sunday, November 22, 2026 – 2:00 PM
*Masking required on November 8
Recommended for ages 14+.
Artistic Team
Directed by Wendy Knox, the production features a veteran ensemble of Twin Cities talent: Kimberly Richardson, Randy Reyes, Maria Asp, Maggie D’Ambrose, Corey DiNardo and Ben Qualley. The creative team includes Sarah Harris (Scenic Design), Tony Stoeri (Lighting Design), Lily Turner (Costume Design), Kevin Springer (Sound Design), Beth Cleary (Dramaturgy), and Jeffery A. Alspaugh (Stage Management).
Dario Fo (Playwright) was an Italian satirist, playwright, actor, and director who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997 for emulating “the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.” A master of popular theater and commedia dell’arte, his key works include Mistero Buffo and Accidental Death of an Anarchist.
Tickets
$40 ($35, students, seniors, low income)
Pay What You Can on Saturday, October 31