'Lysistrata' Mania Makes Its Way to Middlebury

Author: Laura Rockefeller

On Monday, 1,004 theatre groups in 59 countries, including the Middlebury College Department of Theater, presented staged readings of the first anti-war play ever written: Aristophanes' "Lysistrata."
The worldwide event was set in motion by Kathryn Blume and Sharron Bower as a plea for peace in the current international situation.
The official Web site of the project explains that, "Though Lysistrata Project represents many individuals with a range of opinions, we all oppose a unilateral, pre-emptive attack on Iraq by the United States. We support the continued work of United Nations weapons inspectors."
Readings of the play were presented in such varied locations as the Refugee Camp of Kurds in Patra, Greece, and by Tehrik e Niswan (The Women's Movement) in Karachi, Pakistan.
The project made it possible for people all over the world to plead together for peace in the same words and on the same day, even though they have probably never met.
The Project first came to the attention of Middlebury Professor of Theatre Cheryl Faraone when she received an e-mail in mid-January from Christian Parker '93 telling her about the initiative.
She explained that she was excited by the idea, but other projects she was working on at the time put "Lysistrata" in the background. A little later she received a second e-mail from Vermont-based actress Janice Perry, asking whether the Middlebury Theater Department was involved in the project.
Faraone sent out an e-mail to Middlebury students and professors in the Department of Theater and Dance, and work on the Middlebury production of "Lysistrata" began.
The staged reading was presented in Wright Memorial Theatre on the partially finished set for the Theater Department's upcoming production of "Memorandum." As Faraone commented in her introduction to "Lysistrata," the stark wooden grid on the floor and the cavernous stage reaching behind the actors was "visually militaristic in a certain way" and allowed the audience's imagination to build the set of the Acropolis in their mind's eye.
There was no charge for the performance but, in accordance with the guidelines of the project, all of the audience members were invited to donate money to Move On, an Internet peace organization.
The atmosphere in the moderately filled theater was at ease but excited, as shown by the burst of applause that followed the announcement of the number of readings of "Lysistrata" that were taking place around the world and by the cheers that came at the reading's conclusion.
Any small slips that were made by the actors as they read were greeted by good-natured laughter from audience and performers alike, which made the theater seem much smaller and brought all of the people in the space together with a marvelous sense of amity.
Faraone had commented earlier, "Unfortunately most people who come will already agree with the premise." Although this might not have been ideal for starting a dialogue about the play and its message, it created a wonderful atmosphere at the performance.
A group of people had been brought together and was able, for once in this very tense time, to laugh at the foolishness of man.
The play tells the story of Lysistrata, a Greek woman, read by Perry, who decides to stop the war between Sparta and Athens by making all the women of the two city states go on a sex strike until the men agree to stop the fighting and make peace with each other.
At the beginning of the play, the women swear, "I will suffer no man, be he husband or lover, to approach me all hot and horny." The result is a hilarious comedy, but one that has some moments of very poignant commentary on the devastating effects of war.
The leader of the chorus of old women (Joya Scott '04) responds to one of the many derogatory comments directed at the women by the Magistrate (Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Peter Schmitz) by saying, "I pay my share, for I contribute the men."
Described on the program as "a theatrical act of dissent," the play provoked the audience to ask themselves, in Lysistrata's words, "Why not make peace? Tell me. What prevents it?"
Faraone explained that, for her, the idea of the project was "that theatre is coming to the table -- we should all be able to voice our opinions."
She commented in her introduction to the piece, "It is a very exciting thing to be part of such a world-wide initiative ... what is particularly exciting for me is that art is part of the dialogue."
For more information about the Lysistrata Project, check out the official website at www.lysistrataproject.org.