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4D - The Michigan Daily - New Student Edition - Fall 2003
'L ysistrata'
By Elizabeth Anderson
Daily Arts Writer
Wearing winter coats and hats, University stud
Company members collaborated March 3rd on
phanes's play "Lysistrata." The readings also ser
demonstrating support against a potential preempti
The campus reading was in conjunction with the
al organization that sponsored more than
1,000 staged readings in 59 countries yes-
terday. The project's main goal is to stop
the war against Iraq.
"Lysistrata," written by Aristophanes in
circa 411 B.C., tells the story of a woman
who encourages the other women of
Greece to deny their husbands sex in order
to cease fighting in the Peloponnesian
War. Kathryn Blume, an actress and co-
founder of the Lysistrata Project, said she
appreciated the humor and peaceful mes-
sage of the play.
Inspired by the protest group Theaters
Against War, Blume and another actress,
Sharron Bower, founded the Lysistrata
Project in January. Word spread and the
project grew into a global movement.
"I'd been watching global develop-
ments (towards the war) with trepida-
tion," Blume said.
"Our other main goal has already been Theatre
achieved - showing that Bush doesn't voice o
sends anti-war message
speak for all Americans," she added. "We're incredibly excited. It's so
humbling and gratifying to see how people have embraced the project and
made it their own."
ents and Royal Shakespeare Mark Greene, spokesman for the Lysistrata Project said the group's message
staged readings of Aristo- is clear. "We are opposed to a preemptive unilateral attack by the U.S.,"
ved as an anti-war protest, Greene said. In addition to performances, many groups are raising money for
ve U.S. strike against Iraq. charities, such as Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders.
Lysistrata Project, a nation- LSA senior Corey Triplett and his recently-formed student theater group,
Makeshift Theatre Troupe, organized the
event, which was performed on the steps of
the Michigan Union, in the Diag and outside
the Media Union.
Despite the freezing weather, about 10 Uni-
versity students and seven Royal Shakespeare
Company actors participated.
Triplett said he organized the event to take
part in the global demonstration. "It com-
3Q bines two things I love - theater and
activism," he said.
"We're getting information out about the
anti-war movement that keeps growing across
the country." Triplett added that despite its
age, the play's message is relevant. "Nonvio-
lence and anti-war movements have been an
issue since B.C.," he said.
Members of the Royal Shakespeare Compa-
ny expressed their enthusiasm at participating
in the project.
FRANK PAYNE/Daily Kieron Jecchinis, an actor with the compa-
e artists from the Lysistrata Project use their creative talents to ny, said the actors were participating because
pposition to a war against Iraq. they think the war against Iraq is wrong.
BARD
Continued from Page 1
he was, but he got caught up in the
intrigue of politics. He was
destroyed by the forces that made
him great.
'Midnight's Children'
The novel of the same name, writ-
ten by Salman Rushdie, was origi-
nally published in 1981 and awarded
the Man Booker Prize. "Midnight's
Children" is an epic story of Indian
independence and the births of Pak-
istan and Bangladesh, seen through
the eyes of one remarkable family.
Saleem Sinai, the narrator and
protagonist of the story, was born at
the exact moment of Indian inde-
pendence from Britain, and his life
becomes magically entwined with
the destinies of the twin nations.
As one of the 1,001 midnight's
children, or the children all born
within the same hour as he, Saleem
can hear the thoughts of the others,
adding a touch of the fantastic
against the very real backdrop of the
first 30 years of the Indian struggle
for independence.
The play "Midnight's Children"
was adapted for stage by the direc-
tor, Tim Supple, Simon Reade, and
Salman Rushdie himself. This is not
the first time that a dramatization of
this work has been attempted, but it
is the first time one has successfully
been completed.
This performance, the premiere of
"Midnight's Children" in America,
offers a unique combination of per-
formance and education. This is a
direct result of the partnership
including the University Musical
Society, the RSC, the University of
Michigan and Columbia University.
'The Merry Wives of Windsor'
Shakespeare's hilarious comedy is
centered around the lust and greed
of one fat knight, Sir John Falstaff,
and the two women who are deter-
mined to teach him the lesson that
wives can be merry and faithful.
Falstaff assumes himself desired
by Mistress Page and Mistress Ford,
both wives of well-to-do gentlemen.
Falstaff believes that he can use the
raw attraction of his body to coax
the women into submission. Proper-
ly mortified by his amorous propos-
als, the two women decide to not
only defend their honor, but also
seek revenge for it. Falstaff has no
idea what he is getting into when he
decides to cross these two cunning
women.
The director, Rachel Kavanaugh,
sets "The Merry Wives of Windsor"
in Britain during the aftermath of
World War II, a tumultuous time
when the fighting was over, yet
Britain was still not at peace.
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