SATIRE, or laughter with anger, has long been an important safety valve in society - attacking abuse and injustice.

The Italian playwright Dario Fo was awarded the Nobel Prize for "emulating the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden".

Now a collection of Fo's comic mysteries is being performed by four actors in York's Friargate Theatre.

Topicality is the essence of satire, so the cast wasted no time in taking a satirical swipe at the outgoing Dean of York, the Very Reverend Raymond Furnell, for leaving York Minster in the midst of controversy.

Another victim of their satire was a medieval Pope who hanged monks by their tongues from church doors for disagreeing with him.

In a play depicting The Slaughter Of The Innocents, a mother mad with grief harangues God for allowing the babies to be killed.

In a comedy sketch, a blind man and a cripple have a go at Jesus Christ for curing them and, therefore, leaving them without a livelihood.

The following play about Christ raising Lazarus from the dead is reminiscent of Monty Python's Life Of Brian, with the miracle being seen through the eyes of the watching crowd.

The biblical theme was continued by an amiable drunkard's take on Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding, as well as a stark and intense interpretation of Christ's Crucifixion. Christ also made an appearance in The Birth Of The Jongleur - a compelling parable about the power of satire.

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Updated: 12:56 Tuesday, July 08, 2003