Lysistrata is a Greek play written by Aristophanes in 411 BC. The comedy, which has been told and retold over centuries, depicts a community at war and the lengths that the women of the community will go to in order to put an end to the war. Though contextually rooted in a patriarchal juxtaposition of an ancient Greek battle of the sexes, Lysistrata presents women creating their own power out of the objectification that they have been subjected to. While women are not exempt from complicity in war, especially now, Lysistrata can certainly teach audienced how to find their own power to resist the war times we are experiencing in 2022.
Lysistrata is a woman in war torn Athens who is fed up with the long standing war that the men of Greece have been fighting. Desperate to end the war and return to normal life, Lysistrata convenes with the women of the cities engaged in the war to work together to come up with a way to gain peace and an end to the war. The women decide that the thing that the men want more desperately than engaging in war is engaging in sexual activity. Coming to terms with their status as little more than sexual objects to the war hungry men, the women band together and take a solemn oath to totally withhold sex from the men until they can agree to end the war and negotiate peace. Ancient Greek hijinks ensue, as they are wont to do, and eventually peace negotiations begin.
Our production of Lysistrata will emphasize intersectionality in the cast of women on stage. To shine a light on the importance of creating power out of marginalization when resisting war in an extreme capitalist world. The cast will feature all types of women and non gender conforming individuals who identify with the material at hand. In seeing these people with varying skin colors, body types, and body abilities, it is our hope that audience members will be inspired to start conversations in their own communities about ways to resist.
Lysistrata will be performed August 5-7 and 12-14 2022. Audience members may begin seating at 7:30pm. The show will begin at 8:00pm. The show will be around 90 minutes with no intermission.
Lysistrata will be performed outdoors at UC Irvine’s Science Library. Audience members will need to reserve their seats at eventbrite.com/LysistrataUCI. The price for tickets will be on a sliding scale based on what audience members can pay. All ticket sales will be donated to the ACLU to help resist the war being inflicted upon marginalized people in the US and to help provide relief for Ukrainian families.
Audience members are encouraged to join the cast and crew for a 10 minute conversation after every show to discuss how their own communities can be best served in resisting war time. Additionally, on August 6th and 13th, audience members are invited to stay for a 30 minute long talk back with a representative from the Southern California branch of the ACLU. This conversation will address how to get involved in resistance efforts in Southern California. Further readings about the ACLU will be provided at the talk back and more information can be found at https://www.aclusocal.org/en.