After presenting our summer reading suggestion, Cider House Rules, I thought it might be a good idea to suggest a play for 2022’s Play in the Park presenters. Time to put away those tired old Shakespearean chestnuts and go for the real classics: Lysistrata!
and why? well, here’s the synopsis from Wikipedia. I’ll think you’ll understand:
Lysistrata is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman’s extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city states by denying all the men of the land any sex, which was the only thing they truly and deeply desired. Lysistrata persuades the women of the warring cities to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands and lovers as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace—a strategy, however, that inflames the battle between the sexes.
The play is notable for being an early exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society. Additionally, its dramatic structure represents a shift from the conventions of Old Comedy, a trend typical of the author’s career. It was produced in the same year as the Thesmophoriazusae, another play with a focus on gender-based issues, just two years after Athens’ catastrophic defeat in the Sicilian Expedition.
So sit back, have a cool beverage, and listen to the chorus exclaim!
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