Classical Club to Debut ‘Lysistrata’

The femme fatale is an oft depicted image in theater. Alluring and confident, she dominates men with her sexy looks and natural charm. When the women of Greece take this image one step further in “Lysistrata,” using sex as a leveraging tool to stop the fighting of The Peloponnesian War, uproar and hilarity ensue.

Two thousand, four hundred years after its original performance in Athens, Aristophanes’ “Lysistrata” is being brought to campus by Harvard’s Classical Club, who both selected and translated the play. Directed by James M. Leaf ’10 and produced by Veronica R. Koven-Matasy ’10, this classical Greek play–which will run from April 16 to 18 at the Loeb Experimental Theatre—is adapted for the modern audience, keeping the sexual lewdness and comedy of the original play.

“The play is the translation of a Greek classic with our own interpretations,” says Catherine A. Morris ’11, the costume designer. “It’s supposed to capture the risqué effect it would have had on Greek audiences, because it is shocking—this drama is about a war between men and women, and there is a lot of sexual tension and overt sexual references,” says Morris, who is also a Crimson contributing writer.

“Lysistrata” was chosen, in part, to address the relative scarcity of plays produced on campus that focus on women. “The Classics Club chose the play, because we thought it was time for a play about girls,” Koven-Matasy explains.

Following Lysistrata as she leads a sex strike, the play challenges stereotypical gender roles. By placing typically masculine domains, such as sex and war, under the control of the women, they become the empowered protagonists of the story, actively and effectively inducing change.

“It destructs the idea of traditional femininity and pares down the stoicism of men,” Morris says.

“In ancient times and even now, the women are expected to shut up and sit in the kitchen,” Koven-Matasy says. “There’s this feeling [in the play] that the women have done this for so long that the pressure is building up and building up and that they are miserable with this war.”

The use of sexuality to end something as political as war is both enlightening and engaging, providing most of the raunchy humor in the play.

“The key phrases for this play are sex and war,” says Vanessa B. Koo ’12, who plays both Lampito, a strong and athletic Spartan woman, and Ismenia. “It’s about women taking control over the situation, and in a way they know how. The men have no choice but to submit.”

“Just looking at war and what it does to people is an important theme in the play, including issues of male dominance and senselessness that go behind wars,” Koo adds.

“To see that juxtaposed with this lighthearted discussion on sexuality is interesting. I think it’s important to have these things juxtaposed against each other. You see the context of things in relativity and how the two themes fit together.”

Because the play explores timeless themes of sexuality, war, and the battle of the sexes, this classical Greek play was adapted fairly easily for the 21st century audience, save for the antiquated and esoteric jokes.

“Adaptations have to be made because the play is funny in the original Greek but often only funny to Classicists,” Koven-Matasy says.

By changing the language used in the play and having the actors dress in contemporary outfits—mostly their own clothes—the cast and staff hoped that the audience would better understand the play without being bogged down by archaic jargon and references.

“We wanted to make something that would make sense to the modern audience and that would relate to them. That’s the most effective way to reinterpret the play,” Koven-Matasy says.

“It [the sexual component] is very humorously exaggerated in the play. But really, everyone wants to have sex. The women are just as unhappy as the men, when they have a sex strike. The idea is that whoever has the willpower wins.”

By continuing to put on annual productions of classical theatre, the Classical Club hopes that the Harvard community will become more familiar with ancient Greek plays.

“The first impression is always that Harvard doesn’t put on classical plays that often, like ancient Greek drama. Ancient Greek drama is the starting point of theater, but we don’t put it on often,” Koven-Matasy says. “We are a community of intellectuals, and we should see where the roots of theater lie. And, themes of anti-war and feminism really do ring true here.”