Lysistrata
A play about making war – and not making love…
The Talbot Theatre production of Lysistrata both entertained and delighted this member of the audience, who was there partly because of an English assignment requirement, but mainly because of the opportunity to enjoy a live theatre production. The theatre company employed many different components to bring this antiwar play to life that evening on the stage.
These components can be broken into three categories, which visually enhanced the text of the play. The first of these categories is the setting, the stage lighting, and the props. The second component is the symbolism of some of those props, and the third component is the character portrayals by the actors on the stage.
To take us back to ancient Greece, the props master employed a very simple interpretation using columns on a raised set of steps, with a backdrop of blue. To add to the feel of the era, a statue stands in the middle of the platform. This platform serves double duty as the Akropolis and as the Citadel, both of which the women have occupied. When the men light a fire below the walls of the Akropolis, smoke pours out of the bundle of sticks, making it appear as if a fire has really been ignited. Fortunately the women are ready and the fire is extinguished and the men all doused with water, which is portrayed well with buckets and actions that look as if the men are being driven away by the water. When Kinesias comes to see Myrrhine, and they he...
It is imperative to understand the significance of the profound effects these elements have on the audience’s response to the play. Without effective and accurate embodiments of the central themes, seeing a play becomes an aimless experience and the meaning of the message is lost. Forgiveness and redemption stand as the central themes of the message in The Spitfire Grill. Actors communicate character development through both nonverbal and verbal cues; their costumes serve as a visual representation of this development by reflecting the personal transformation of each character. In the case of The Spitfire Grill, set design is cut back to allow for the audience’s primary focus to be on the actors and their story. Different from set design, the use of sound and lights in The Spitfire Grill, establishes the mood for the play. In other words, every theatrical element in a play has a purpose; when befittingly manipulated, these elements become the director’s strongest means of expressing central themes, and therefore a means of achieving set objectives. Here again, The Spitfire Grill is no exception. With the support of these theatrical elements, the play’s themes of forgiveness and redemption shine as bright as the moon on
In a modern day production of Lysistrata, a director’s role would involve the overseeing of the whole play making course and ensuring that all the cast members realize the vision of the production. This role covers all the steps of production from the interpretation of the script to the final performance. This means that the director has a say over a range of disciplines and has to have artistic vision. Lysistrata was produced in 411 B.C., at a time when Athens and Sparta had just concluded a two-decade long war and the general population was in despair. Comedies such as these were used then to communicate instructions to the people (mbc.edu). This essay will focus on the scene where Lysistrata has gathered all the women to convinces the to withhold sex from their husbands until they sign a peace treaty.
The Mongols were a fierce people who conquered many lands under the strong leadership of Genghis and Kublai Khan. From their origins in Asia to the growth of their empire that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe, their inspiration of Europe lasted for centuries. Both good and bad things came from them, but overall, their reign was for the betterment of European culture. The advancements Europe made within the 1200’s could not have been accomplished without the successes of the Mongol Empire.
"Elizabethan Theatre Audiences." Elizabethan Theatre Audiences. Strayer University, 16 May 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Lysistrata, on the contrary shows women acting bravely and even aggressively against men who seem resolved on ruining the city- state by prolonging a pointless and excessively expending reserves stored in the Acropolis. The men being away at war would come home when they could, sexually relieve them selves and then leave again to precede a meaningless war. The women challenge the masculine role model to preserve traditional way of life in the community. When the women become challenged themselves they take on the masculine characteristics and defeat the men physically, mentally but primarily strategically. Proving that neither side benefits from it, just that one side loses more than the other. It gives the impression that the women are heroes and the men are ignorant, which contradicts what Euripides said but is chiefly written to entertain.
The play takes place during the Peloponnesian War and details a woman of the name Lysistrata. Lysistrata has concocted a plan to end the war through the unrecognized influence of women. She arranges a meeting between the wives of the men fighting for Sparta, Thebes, and other surrounding areas. In this meeting, Lysistrata plays on the women’s emotions regarding their “children’s fathers” going “endlessly off soldiering afar in this plodding war” and promptly states that Greece will be “saved by women” through their refraining “from every depth of love.” The women quickly refuse, exclaiming that they would rather “let the war proceed”, before being convinced that a “sex strike” is within the best interests of Greece. Thusly, a battle of the sexes ensues with the “Chorus of Old Women” proving to be the winners. The attempts to arrest the women are thwarted, leaving the men speculating “how this ferocity [could] be tamed.” Lysistrata continues to berate the men, detailing her silence though “well all the while [Lysistrata] knew” of the politics of war. She commands the men to “hold tongue” and “listen while [the women] show the way to recover the nation.” She compares the repair of Greece to the tasks daily preformed by women, those “trivial tricks of the household, domestic analogies of threads, skeins and spools”, in order to “unwind such political problems.” The men retreat, pride intact but slowly
In modern day society, female gender roles are defined in several of forms; ranging from the stereotypical concept of women being primary caretakers to women being the dominant sex. After analyzing two sources of past literature, two iconic women represent personas of both social standings. In the literary works “Genesis” of The Hebrew Bible; along with, “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes, impactful phenomenons take place in the era of these women.
By the use of visual design elements, the overall production of the play can be considered abstract. For example, the set design uses very little props and forces the audience to focus more on the actors and costumes. In addition, the set designer used very dark and dreary color such as black and grey to display the plague that was taking over the city of Thebes. During this time period that the play produced, the plague has made the people in the city weak, bitter, and unhappy. By using colors that represent this internal feeling that the characters are experiencing, the actors move in a certain way that coincidentally goes hand and hand with the set design. In further detail, the costume designer did a fantastic job of portraying certain status ranking by the color of robe they were wearing. For example, Oedipus was wearing a silk, garnish robe that represented royalty and a sophisticated man. Whereas, the ordinary people of Thebes were wearing dull, grey robes that displayed their lack of social ranking. All in all, the visual design elements were used in an appropriate manner that allowed the audience to get a better understanding of the abstract world that this play took place
grew and lasted for about 108 years until they failed by trying to conquer India and were weak the Ming Dynasty overthrew the rulers. The Mongols were not afraid to kill. If one person refuses to do something for them their whole clan will pay, they would leave no survivors. That's what helped make them so successful, many had heard about their gruesome approach and surrendered and accepted submissions. The Mongolians of the Asian Steppe had a positive impact on the world during their rule of the Asian continent from 1206 to 1368 by influencing trade, warfare and uniting China.
“Let’s quickly swear an oath, my friend, and set our concord up unbendable as bronze,” Lysistrata declared, when the other women of Athens and Sparta decided to ban together to with her (Puchner, Akbari, Denecke, and Fuchs 790). The Peloponnesian War had raged on for years and the women of Athens and Sparta were ready for their husbands to come home (Puchner, Akbari, Denecke, and Fuchs 788). Lysistrata assembled all the women to devise a duplicitous disposition to end the war. The women of Athens and Sparta barricaded their selves in a temple and refused to give in to their husbands’ sexual desires (Puchner, Akbari, Denecke, and Fuchs 788). Lysistrata and the women of Athens and Sparta used their sex appeal for to benefit both Athens and Sparta
“Lysistrata,” written following the trouncing of Athenian forces in Sicily in 413 BC, harkens back to this time of war. As is traditional in Athenian theater, males in drag played all of the female parts. This ritual increases the play’s absurdity. The play begins with the streets empty as the men are at war. The women speak to each other of both emotional and sexual starvation. They both
Temujin was the son of a chieftain, Yesukhei. His father was poisoned and died at the hands of a rival clan when Temujin was only ten years old. After his father’s death, Temujin’s mother and family were excommunicated from their home clan, leaving him to provide for himself (Genghis). As Temujin grew, he vowed to avenge his father’s death, and consequently learned to become a fearless and ruthless Mongol leader. He declared himself “ruler of all those who live in felt tents” and was given the title “Genghis Khan” or “king of everything the ocean encloses” (Fernandez-Armesto, 2011, p. 339). It was with the assistance of his clan and his father’s allies that Genghis was able to begin the organization and unification of his people, which would enable him to eventually lead the Mongols to the invasions, massacres and bloody conquests for which they became known around the world. Without a doubt, it was Genghis Khan who created the largest empire ever established.
Schmitz, Johanna. (Oedipus lecture and Sophocles) "Theater 111: The Dramatic Experience." Peck Hall 1406. Edwardsville, IL. 22 Sep. 2011. Lecture.
Founded by a nomadic tribe in the Eurasian steppes led by Genghis Khan, The Mongol Empire was the largest empire the world has ever seen, spanning from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to that of the Pacific Ocean. While the Mongol dominance in the 14th and 15th centuries improved diversification of trade goods across the Eurasian continent and provided a catalyst for the Age of Exploration, it also started the spread of black death in Europe and left Japan in an economically deprived state that led to civil war.
Greek and Elizabethan theatre, while similar in some respects, had a few large differences. The Greeks believed in a certain unity of theme, which was prevalent throughout the production. Greek plays were often drawn from myth or of historical significance, so it seems that only ki...