It's Italy, 1974. Inflation and unemployment are causing an economic crisis, and grocery store lootings run rampant as food costs skyrocket and the working class folks get more and more hungry, both for food and for change. In Dario Fo's We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!, an unassuming housewife becomes a gleeful participant in the food "liberating" and quickly brings her innocent friend into the fold. When the police begin a house-to-house search, the women have to hide their goods in any way possible, which leads to plenty of slapstick comedy, a couple of faked pregnancies and a series of lies that spiral out of control. For its last production of the 2005-06 season, Jobsite Theater stages Fo's satire and partners with Metropolitan Ministries in a food drive spanning the run of the show. We Won't Pay! kicks off with an opening night reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. Thurs., June 1. June 1-18, 8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat., 4 p.m. Sun., Shimberg Playhouse, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa, $16.50-$21.50, 813-229-7827, jobsitetheater.org.
This article appears in May 31 – Jun 6, 2006.