THEATRE - JUNE 18, 2003

Bawdy, updated ‘Lysistrata’ bears Aristophanes’ ancient message
By ISABELLA J. ROWAN

In August 2001, the women in a small Turkish village had been forced to line up in front of a trickling village fountain for water that they carried home (some for miles) in large containers. After pleading unsuccessfully with the men and local authorities to repair the water supply problem, these resourceful women banded together and refused to have sex with their men. A month after the women of Sirt banished their men from the bedroom, desperate husbands appealed to the local government to supply them with the materials needed to build a water system that would pipe water from a nearby source to the village – a distance of about five miles.

Basically, they borrowed from Aristophanes’ 5th century B.C. play “Lysistrata,” a comedy that tells the story of a woman by the same name who convinces her female counterparts to bind together in a sex strike. Now comes a bawdy, riské adaptation, Lysistrata 2411 A.D.” to kick off Lansing Community College’s annual summer theater festival.

“I think it’s amazing that we’re still doing ‘Lysistrata’ or versions of it from so long ago,” said LCC’s Mary Matzke. “It’s an anti-war piece, and sadly we still have wars. I guess that’s why it’s so timely.”

Matzke, who has been teaching theater and directing productions for LCC since 1989, is directing the play, which runs June 25 to June 29 as part of the Turner House Performing Arts Festival. After nearly 20 years of providing summer entertainment in dance, theater, music and outdoor movies, this year’s festival has been renamed “Turner House Festival 2003: On the Road”. It’s “on the road” because the regular venue on the hill behind the historic Turner House on LCC campus is being destroyed to make way for the new Health and Human Services Building. The new location is the parking lot in front of Brenke Fish Ladder at the corner of Turner Street and Grand River Avenue in Old Town (the same location as Festival of the Sun). It’s a huge, full-blown set.

“It’s a good show for outdoors,” Matzke said. “Any piece that is big, bawdy and hysterically funny in the most obvious way is a good choice for outdoors.”
The adaptation, called “Lysistrata 2411 A.D.,” was conceived and written by Dale Calandra, a Chicago actor and director. This version is a musical with lyrics and orchestration by Don Coates. Calandra is known for quirky adaptations. He relocated Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” to a ‘50s era suburban home with the cast looking straight off the set of “Grease”.

“The adaptation is the exact same story,” Matzke said, “except it’s not written in heightened language and it’s set in the future. It’s funky.”

The concept behind “Lysistrata 2411 A.D.” is that there was a nuclear holocaust. Some survivors escaped into space and developed their psychic powers; others went underground and developed their physical powers. Even in the future, however, nothing’s changed. The women are left tending home and family while the men are off fighting each other over viable land resources. Husbands still don’t listen to their wives, and the appendage between their legs is still a guiding force in their behavior. This is where the fun begins.

Lysistrata (Abby Murphy) and The Commissioner (Jeffry David Wilson), two of the characters in "Lysistrata 2411 A.D.," an updated version of Aristophanes' play about how women use sex as an anti-war weapon. The LCC production runs for five performances in Lansing's Old Town beginning June 25.

“Even though it’s an anti-war piece, it is a comedy.” Matzke said, “A comedy revolves around a happy idea (in this case, peace) and means rebirth. How appropriate that rebirth would involve women being the major antagonists for the men.”

At the first meeting, Lysistrata coaches the women to dress in their most beguiling attire; to look their sexy best. And then, of course, to refuse any advances. The women bombard Lysistrata with questions. What if they take us by force? Her advice is to lie there like a lump and the men will lose interest soon enough. What if we go off with each other? She predicts they will soon grow tired of that.

“As a true feminist,” Matzke said of Lysistrata’s role, “she knows that before she can get to the men, she has to get to the women. She finds a way to convince them. It’s very empowering for women.”

“Lysistrata 2411 A.D.” is not recommended for children. It has adult themes. In keeping with the tradition of early performances of the original, the men will be wearing large, highly noticeable, strap-on phalluses. Yes, those. (The ancient Greek actors wore strap-ons made of leather.) Robert Brustein adapted his own version of “Lysistrata” for the American Repertory Theatre in Boston and used colored balloons that could be inflated at a moment’s notice.

“The symbol of the phallus is not really about sex,” Matzke said. “It’s about power. They wear huge phalluses, but the phalluses aren’t penises, they’re a symbol of what the man is.”

“Besides,” Matske added, “there’s one thing we have over them. Without us, they cannot procreate. And if we don’t procreate, the world will end. It’s such a simple, but profound idea.”

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