| Seven years ago, a couple of actresses from New York City, disturbed by the manipulation of a country into pre-emptive war, founded what they expected would be just a local event, a performance of Aristophanes' Lysistrata. The idea of staging a reading or performace of the play - in which women manipulate men by withholding sex, forcing them to negotiate the end of the Peloponnesian War - soon caught the imagination of many, many more people. It became The Lysistrata Project. And on March 3, 2003, there were readings and performances of Lysistrata all around the world. There were 12 around NJ,. More than 1,000 around the world (impossible without the internet). 59 countries.
One of those involved the Artistic Director of the McCarter Theater, Emily Mann, who performed it with actors Blair Brown and Julyana Soelys.
Right after the election, the McCarter is staging The Illiad. And Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action is sponsoring a discussion after the play about the work, and how what it's about is still relevant today. I might go to this. After the battles of November 2, it may be a relief to look back 2,800 years, let the immediate partisan battles recede like yellowing newsprint, and dig Homer's long view. I might have to go to this.
The Illiad - Play and Discussion
Sunday, November 7, starting 2pm.
Princeton |
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