Greek comedy brings sassy women to stage

Cast members practice a scene from “Lysistrata,” a Greek comedy about women who withold sex from their husbands to end a war. The play started Wednesday and will continue through Saturday. Photo by Jessica Pickens • pickensj@thejohnsonian.comBy Jessica Pickens

pickensj@thejohnsonian.com

Womens’ abstinence saves nation during wartime

It all boils down to one thing: men versus women.

The Greek comedy “Lysistrata: A Woman’s Translation” is a play about women trying to end a war to get their men back home.
 
They do this by withholding one thing many men don’t like to live without: sex.

Theater professor and director of the play, Russell Luke, chose a more recent translation of the play by Drue Robinson instead of the classical original play by Aristophanes.

“I read six or seven different translations, and this one stood out the most,” Luke said. “I thought the audience and students would relate to it more.”

The theater department has a rotating schedule, and this year the department needed to perform a Greek play.

“I prefer Greek comedy to tragedy,” Luke said. “This play has had a special fondness. It is very funny but still has a message of anti-war.”

The main character, Lysistrata, played by junior theater major Kayla Piscatelli, speaks her mind in a sassy way, angering the male Greek officials.

“I think I identify most with Lysistrata’s immense amount of ambition,” Piscatelli said. “She knows exactly what she wants and she goes through great lengths to get it. I am a very ambitious person, so I really identify with her desire to end the war and the persistence and excitement with which she pursues her plot.”

Elderly Greek men and women bicker as Lysistrata, played by junior theater major Kayla Piscatelli, humiliates the town magistrate by dressing him as a woman. Greek women are withholding sex from their husbands to end a war. Director, Russell Luke use the translation by Drue Robinson adapted from the original Aristophanes play. Photo by Jessica Pickens • pickensj@thejohnsonian.comPiscatelli said she and the main character have similar personalities, and that helps her with the role.

“I think I have added a level of sassiness to Lysistrata’s character that is perhaps not as prominent in the original script,” she said.

Rachel Middleton, junior integrated marketing communication major, plays Calonice, Lysistrata’s best friend who goes with the plan but isn’t so sure about it at first.

“Calonice is quite a bit more different than any other character I’ve played,” Middleton said. “She is really frivolous and fun. She’s a sexed-up version of a stereotypical pageant girl with a little bit of an anger management problem.”

The cast has had the chance to add their own gags into the play, along with the ones already in the script.

“We have a very talented cast, and they will ask if they can make a joke at certain parts,” Luke said. “With comedy, it lends itself to add slight gags not written in the script.”

“Lysistrata: A Woman’s Translation” started Wednesday, Oct. 6, and ends Sunday, Oct. 10. The play is performed in Johnson Theater at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $8 with student I.D. and $15 for the general public.