In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 28.2 (2006) 32-34



[Access article in PDF]

How Fares Lysistrata Today?

Translated by Hazem Azmy

Egyptian Dramaturg and Theatre Scholar, Hazem Azmy is a frequent contributor to scholarly, trade and popular publications. He is the co-coordinator of Arabic and Translation Studies, The American University of Cairo and an Assistant Lecturer in English at Beni Suef University, Egypt. Azmy is also the editor of The Experimental, the English language daily of the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theater and a contributor (entries on Egypt) to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance.

* * *

Setting: A mélange of New York City, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, Hollywood, along with elements of the classic American country.

Time: Now and the near future.

Form: Musical comedy (sometimes teetering toward the tragic)—a rock opera along the lines of the 1970s rebellious classics, such as Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. However, as the action unfolds, the play will also resort to other theatrical forms such as clown theatre, video performances, and epic theatre. The staging will make use of half-documentary film in projection, and will also feature a cubist structure that combines all the icons of American nationalism, such as the Statue of Liberty, the White House and the Capitol building. The multi-tiered stage descends into the audience's space, invoking the feel of the Colosseum and thus engendering the spirit of a popular convention or of ritual gatherings in the ancient cities of Athens, Rome and Thebes. It is as if everyone in the theatre becomes part of an anti-war demonstration taking place in front of the White House.

The play harbors a certain intentional naïveté. We should make every effort to instill in the audience the childlike frenzy that was once the hallmark of the theatrical experience in ancient times, and which allowed intimacy with the opposite sex to take precedence over almost everything else. This frenzy is balanced with deeper intellectual and ideological insights thanks to the chorus as well as to the huge projection screen that is never too squeamish to throw gory truths right in the viewers' faces.

Characters: Our American Lysistrata is a struggling commoner whose Marine husband is stationed at the "Yellow" front (East Asia). A kind-hearted, plump [End Page 32] woman of rustic beauty, Lysistrata exudes a guiltless femininity and a natural motherly instinct, along with a biting sense of humor. Her clever plan is intended to both establish genuine equality between the sexes and to end the war. The two causes are interrelated since, as she discovers, they both hark back to aggressive masculinity. Lysistrata's consorts are a mixture of American female types as imagined by Hollywood, such as the Sluttish Blonde, the Sentimental Fattie or the High-Strung Black Housewife.

The two song-and-dance choruses, one male and the other female, comment on or intervene in the action, as warranted, and maintain a link with the audience throughout the performance. The female chorus is composed of poor and downtrodden types, such as African-Americans, and also includes alternative characters such as a homeless prostitute, a lesbian couple, and a war-injured woman Marine. The Chorus of Men, by contrast, is an assortment of money moguls, arms dealers and politicians. It is at once a mixture of comic and devious types, evoking the screen personas of Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, and Anthony Hopkins. Yet this odd lot eventually strikes a tragiccomic note: it is a painful reminder of how this vulture-like breed of masculinity can bring down any civilization before one can say "Halliburton." The character of the head of the state combines, in one breath, elements of the sitting President, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and ancient Roman Emperors along the lines of Nero and Caligula.

The Plot: American men in uniform march into the world's capitals to fight deadly wars to protect the interests of super-powerful plutocrats. Peace-seeking delegates arrive from China—the site of the next war&#x02014...

pdf

Share