Word: lysistrata
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Hate About You, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt of 3rd Rock from the Sun, is "The Taming of the Shrew in high school." Next year's Cruel Inventions, with Gellar and Dawson's Joshua Jackson, was pitched as "Dangerous Liaisons in high school." Then there's Strike, billed as "Lysistrata in high school." Can a teen Finnegans Wake be far behind...
...there really were a lasting boycott among women, faster than you can say Lysistrata, the clubs would feel the pressure. After all, there's only so much fun to be had in half-naked sumo wrestling. Women Appealing for Change, a more or less formal campus group, tried this strategy two years ago with mixed success. They managed to get the Fly Club to commit to a co-ed punch, but after that their movement lost momentum and the women returned through the side door. And the Fly Club's grad board postponed the co-ed punch indefinitely...
Particularly confusingly, this production of Lysistrata projects a dual perspective--it remains unclear whether it endeavors to recreate Aristophanes' bawdy farce, or tries actually to parody the original intent of the classic...
Despite these modern changes, the philosophical import of this production seems hardly different from that of the original. Aristophanes' Lysistrata, while revolutionary when it was first performed in 411 BCE, runs counter to today's definition of feminism. And neither the acting nor the guiding philosophy behind this production manages to bring it up to date. The female characters of the play, daringly swearing off sex to force their warring husbands to declare a truce, nevertheless fail to present a strong revolutionary image...
Rising notably above the production in terms of subtlety and humor is Winsome Brown as Lysistrata. The role of Lysistrata is particularly difficult since she is at the center of intrigue, and appears in almost every scene. Maintainig a devilish smirk and unflagging energy throughout the play, Brown sustains rapport with the audience. She effectively coordinates the sub-plots of the characters on stage, as well as creating a complex, witty personality for herself...