lysis— trata - Auckland Theatre Company

LYSIS—
TRATA
BY ARISTOPHANES
ADAPTED AND DIRECTED BY
MICHAEL HURST
EDUCATION PACK
CONTENTS
THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS
P R I N C I PA L F U N D E RS
Synopsis
P.04
Aristophanes and his plays
P.06
Ancient Greek Theatre
P.08
CORE FUNDER
Ancient Greek Comedy
P.12
Interview with the DIrector
P.14
Making the Monumental:
Production Design
P.19
Costume Design
P.22
Music and Choreography
P.26
Resources and Readings
P.28
ATC Education &
Curriculum Links
P.29
ATC Education also thanks the ATC Patrons and the
ATC Supporting Acts for their ongoing generosity.
VENUE: Venue: Q Theatre, 305 Queen Street, Auckland City.
SCHOOL MATINEE
PERFORMANCES:
Thursday 4 August at 6:30pm, Thursday
13 August and Thursday 20 August at 11am.
• Schools’ performances are followed by a Q&A Forum lasting for 20 – 30 minutes
in the theatre immediately after the performance.
RUNNING TIME:
2 hours including a 20 minute interval.
• Eating and drinking in the auditorium is strictly prohibited.
SUITABILITY: This production is suitable for
Year Levels 12 and 13 only.
ADVISORY: Contains frequent use of strong language
and explicit adult sexual themes.
PLEASE NOTE
• Please make sure all cell phones are turned off prior to the performance and, if
possible, please don’t bring school bags to the theatre.
• Photography or recording of any kind is STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
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LYSISTRATA
A R I STO P H A N E S’
CAST
Lysistrata — AMANDA BILLING | Kalonike — JENNIFER WARD-LEALAND
Myrrine — SIA TROKENHEIM | Kinesias — FASITUA AMOSA
Lampito — LUCINDA HARE | Ismenia — HANNAH TASKER-POLAND
General Praxis — ANDREW GRAINGER | Drakes — PETER HAYDEN
Spartan/Naxos — PAUL GLOVER | Magistrate — CAMERON RHODES
Stratylis — DARIEN TAKLE | Gorgo — NAOMI COHEN
CREATIVE
Adaptor & Director — MICHAEL HURST | Choreographer — SHONA McCULLAGH
Musical Director/Composer — JOHN GIBSON | Set Designer — RACHAEL WALKER
Costume Designer — TROY GARTON | Lighting Designer — SEAN LYNCH
PRODUCTION
Production Manager — ANDREW MALMO | Company Manager — ELAINE WALSH
Stage Manager — JAMIE JOHNSTONE | Assistant Stage Manager — NATASHA LAY
Technical Manager — KATE BURTON | Props Master — BECKY EHLERS
Set Construction — 2CONSTRUCT | Lighting Operator — RACHEL MARLOW
Sound System Design - GLEN RUSKE/BounceNZ | Sound Operator — JONNY KEATING
SM Intern — ALEXIS MUMFORD | Production Interns — JACOB PARKES & MARSHALL BULL
EDUCATION PACK CREDITS
Writer — AMBER McWILLIAMS | Editor — LYNNE CARDY
Contributing Writer — JOHN GIBSON
Design images courtesy of — TROY GARTON and RACHAEL WALKER
Production images — MICHAEL SMITH | Design — SAUCY HOT DESIGN
Various excerpts in the text by Guy Davenport, from 7 Greeks,
copyright ©1995 by Guy Davenport. Used with permission of New Directions Publishing.
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SYNOPSIS
While the Peloponnesian War
rages on…
Lysistrata calls a serious
meeting of women to discuss the
ongoing war between Athens and
Sparta. However, she becomes
frustrated because the women
are late and flippant. She finally
gets everyone’s attention, and
announces that the women can
stop the war by withholding sexual
favours from their menfolk. This
suggestion is highly unpopular,
and the women refuse. However,
Lysistrata persists and eventually
the women agree, and swear an
oath to refrain from sex until their
men broker a truce.
Lysistrata has also set up the
older women to overpower the old
men at the Acropolis and throw
them out of the temple. Having
achieved this, the women barricade
themselves inside, preventing the
soldiers from accessing temple
funds to pay for the war.
The men (led by General Praxis)
set fires around the building to
force the women out. The women
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refuse to budge, and mock them.
Finally it occurs to the men to
set fire to the gates. One of the
women, Stratylis, leaves the temple
to look for water and is taken
captive by the men. However, the
younger women arrive just in time
to distract the men, help Stratylis
break free, and gather water to put
out the fires. These women then
join the others in the Acropolis,
leaving the men outside.
The men fetch the Magistrate.
He declares the situation has come
about because the men have let the
women get away with too much,
and it has gone beyond a joke. He says they must force their way into
the Acropolis – and force the
women to submit, too.
Lysistrata comes out to broker
an agreement, recommending
common sense. The men disregard
her and commence the attack,
but the women manage to beat
them back.
The Magistrate decides to
distract the women with questions
so the men can mount a counter
attack. He is furious to learn from
Lysistrata that the women have
assumed control of the treasury,
and plan to abolish the war.
Lysistrata says the women have
watched the men waste money
for years, and now they have had
enough: they are taking charge and
planning to build a better, fairer
democracy.
The women strip off their
clothes and throw them at the men,
then retreat into the Acropolis.
The men are bamboozled, but only
temporarily. At the Magistrate’s
instruction, they put on the
women’s clothes, and decide to
fight back.
Inside the Acropolis, the
frustrated women are making up
all sorts of excuses as to why they
need to go home, to try and sneak
away so they can make love with
their husbands. Lysistrata tells
them to hold on, and reads them
an oracle from the gods which
reinforces her point.
Outside, the men are going
crazy with unsatisfied desire,
dancing and singing in the
women’s clothes. A messenger from
Sparta arrives, in a similarly sorry
state, and says the Spartan leaders
want to meet. They arrange to
hold a forum the next morning to
discuss the situation.
Inside, the women are slowly
going crazy too. When Myrrhine’s
husband Kinesias arrives to seek
his wife, Lysistrata teases him with
sexual innuendo, and Myrrhine
poses and preens to highlight
how desirable — and unobtainable
— she is. She promises to give in to Kinesias (if he will sign a
peace treaty with Sparta) and he
leaves unsatisfied. At the forum, the men agree
they’re finding the situation
impossible. They agree to call a
truce, and summon Lysistrata
to seal the deal. The peace is
confirmed with a kiss and a song.
05
ARISTOPHANES
and his plays
Aristophanes is one of the most famous of the ancient Greek
comic playwrights. His lifespan is uncertain; records suggest he was
born around 440BC and lived until about 388BC. An Athenian citizen,
he was born into a radical democracy, growing up during a time when
Athens was at the peak of its power in the Greek world. As a child,
Aristophanes could well have watched the Parthenon being built.
Aristophanes won prizes for
his plays at several festivals while
he was still a young man. However,
his early plays got him into
trouble for satirising a prominent
politician, Cleon. Though ordered
to moderate his mockery, the
playwright ignored the order
and continued lampooning
Greece’s leaders.
After Cleon’s death,
Aristophanes finally found favour
with the authorities. Around
405BC, he was honoured by the
Assembly and awarded a crown
of sacred olive for offering sound
political advice in his play The
Frogs. By around 390BC, he himself
had been appointed a member of
the governance Council.
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Lysistrata was first staged in
411 BC, during the Peloponnesian
war between the Athenian empire
and Sparta. Though Athens lost the
war, Aristophanes gained a strong
theme for his play. The character
of Lysistrata is thought to have been
based on a real woman, Lysimache
(the name means "dissolver of
battle"), who was the chief priestess
in Athens and who spoke out
against the war. Ancient scholars mention 44
plays attributed to Aristophanes
(of which four were thought to not
be his work). Eleven have been
preserved: this is the greatest
number of comic plays by one
author that survives from the
writings of Ancient Greece.
ARISTOPHANES’ SURVIVING PLAYS
The Acharnians The Knights The Clouds The Wasps Peace The Birds Lysistrata Thesmophoriazusae
The Frogs
Ecclesiazusae Wealth Plutus
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STORY STRUCTURE
The plot can normally be
divided into four parts:
Conception: the audience is
introduced to the situation and
the protagonist’s project, which
the protagonist is often already
working to implement as the play
starts, although it is almost always
some time before the audience
learns what it is.
Struggle: the protagonist
encounters difficulties, usually
taking the form of opposition from
some other person or group.
Realization: the project’s aim
is achieved.
Consequences: the project’s
outcome is shown – this is
usually success and happiness
for the protagonist, and greater
public good.
“Aristophanes shows a very strong liking for
one particular plot pattern…
The pattern is what may be called the plot
of predicament and rescue — or, in one
Greek word, of sōtēriā.”
Alan Sommerstein
Greek Drama and Dramatists
“Aristophanes’ comedy is characterized…
by extreme inventiveness in language and
theatrical presentation, and by a carefree
disregard of the physical and even the logical
constraints of the everyday world if they
interfere with the requirements of the plot or
even a momentary joke.”
Alan Sommerstein
Greek Drama and Dramatists
ACTIVITIES
• Aristophanes famously used comedy to poke fun at powerful people.
How is this tradition carried on in today’s society? Find one great
example of a comic attack on authority from modern culture.
• Look at the typical structure of Aristophanes’ plays. Identify key plot
points in Lysistrata to illustrate how the play conforms to, or breaks,
this standard script pattern.
• Alan Sommerstein says Aristophanes has a “carefree disregard of the
physical and even the logical constraints of the everyday world” in
his plays. What does this mean? What examples of this can you see in
Lysistrata?
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ABOUT ANCIENT GREEK THEATRE
THEATRE STRUCTURES
In ancient Greece, it was a
citizen’s social duty to go to
the theatre. People from all
walks of life were expected to
attend to be educated about
social and moral issues, as well
as entertained. However as
the role of women was highly
subordinated in ancient Greece it
is unlikely that women attended
any of the plays. Plays were
entered into competitions as
part of religious festivals, with
separate categories for tragedy
and comedy.
To hold the crowds, Greek
theatres were very big: the
Theatre of Dionysus in Athens
seated around 10,000 people.
Dignitaries were given elegantly
carved front row seats; further
back the seating was made of
plain stone or steps cuts into the
sloping ground. The acoustics
of Greek amphitheatres were
excellent, so dialogue and song
lyrics could be heard in the back
rows without amplification. Masks
were used, showing heightened
emotions and exaggerated
physical characteristics, so that
the audience could distinguish the
different characters easily even
from a distance.
Greek theatre companies
had different components: the
didaskalos, the actors and the
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chorus. Originally, the didaskalos
was a huge role — a cross between
director, playwright, designer,
choreographer and composer,
controlling all aspects of the
production and usually playing
the lead role as well. However, by
around 460BC, roles had become
more specialised, and writer,
director, and actor were often
separate. Aristophanes liked this
model: ten of his forty plays were
directed by other people.
All performers in Greek theatre
were male. The actors (usually
only three per play) were skilled
speakers who played multiple roles,
embodying different characters
through physicality. Actors had
high status in society as social
commentators and educators. The chorus was a group of
dancers and singers who narrated
the story, explained key plot points
or ideas, and provided musical
interludes. A chorus could have
anything from 12 to 50 members,
but generally consisted of about
15 people. Chorus members
represented ‘society’ in the play.
They also reflected the real society
of their time, offering commentary
on the action to emphasise the
play’s themes and show how it
was relevant to the theatre-going
citizens’ lives. The chorus worked
as a unit: though the individual
performers brought their own
quirks and personalities to their
performance, there was a coherent
‘group response’ to the play’s
events. Thus the chorus could be
very powerful, using its unity to
challenge higher authority, whether
covertly or overtly.
Many modern theatre terms
come from the ancient Greeks.
The word ‘theatre’ comes from the
Greek word ‘theatron,’ meaning
‘place for watching.’ (The term
originally described the seating
block, as well as the whole
performance space.)
The ‘orchestra’ in a Greek
theatre was the ‘dancing place’ — a flat round space in the centre
of the amphitheatre where the
chorus danced and sang. Today,
the ‘orchestra pit’ in a proscenium
theatre is the floor level or
sunken space where the show’s
musicians sit.
The Greek word ‘skene’
means ‘tent’; originally, actors
would go into a tent at the back
of the orchestra to change their
masks. Later, the ‘skene’ became
a higher platform, separating the
actors from the chorus by raising
them above the orchestra space.
Eventually the skene came to be
painted with a representation of the
play’s setting — usually a palace or
temple — hence our term ‘scenery’. The ‘proscenio’ was the front
part of the skene (pro + scene),
just like the ‘proscenium arch’ in
modern theatre.
The chorus entered through
side entrances called ‘parodoi’
(plural of ‘parodos’). Entering from
the right parodos meant characters
were coming from the city or the
port, while using the left parodos
suggested a character was arriving
from the fields or abroad. There was
generally a central opening to the
temple at the back of the skene (a
position of power for high-ranking
characters).
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ANCIENT GREEK COMEDY
The Greek word for comedy
(kōmōidía) comes from the words
for 'revel' and 'song' (kōmos and ōdē),
and most Greek comedies
have music and dancing as key
components. Comedies — like
all Greek drama — grew out
of the festivals that honoured
Dionysus, the Greek god of wine,
fertility, theatre, and physical
and spiritual ecstasy.
“Comedy’s Dionysiac features were
implicit in its name (‘song of a band of
drunken revellers’), and throughout its
history it set great store by the joys of wine,
the spirit of communal merrymaking,
and the Dionysiac emblem of the phallus
and all it represented…”
Alan Sommerstein
Greek Drama and Dramatists
Greek comic history is grouped
into three main periods: Old Comedy (c.5th century BC),
Middle Comedy (c.385 BC to
321 BC), and New Comedy
(c.320 BC to mid-3rd century BC).
Aristophanes is the most famous
Old Comedy playwright; Old
Comedy is sometimes also called
‘Aristophanic Comedy’.
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FEATURES OF OLD COMEDY
• satire (mocking human
foolishness)
• parodies of contemporary
authority figures (politicians,
priests and other leaders)
• physical humour (slapstick-style gags)
• coarse language (lots of sexual
innuendo and double entendre)
• overt sexuality (display of bodies,
physical rudeness)
• set in the present time (refers to
the world the audience lives in)
• breaks the fourth wall (allows
dialogue with the audience,
encourages response to action)
• typically end with a triumphal
procession or revel
The defeat of Athens in
the Peloponnesian War signalled
the end of the first comic era, as
the Athenians became disillusioned
with the heroes and gods who
played prominent roles in Old
Comedy. Middle and New Comedy
are more subtle and realistic,
lacking the ‘outrageous’ qualities
of Old Comedy.
ACTIVITIES
• Identify what makes you (personally) laugh. Are there common
features to what you find funny?
• Which elements of ancient Greek comedy are in most regular use
in modern comedy? See if you can name a modern film/play/TV
programme/YouTube blogger who exemplifies some of the different
elements listed above. Which do you think are most interesting /
successful? Why?
• Lewd language was a big feature of Old Comedy. Which were your
favourite witty innuendos in this modern version? How might they
relate to the original script?
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Michael Hurst
INTERVIEW WITH
THE DIRECTOR
Amber McWilliams talks to director Michael Hurst about his
approach to adapting Aristophane’s text for today’s audiences and
staging ‘the mystic and the modern’
Michael Hurst is a longstanding
fan of ancient Greek theatre. He
loves the way “Classical Greek
plays operate on the audience.
They are immediate.” He says the
audience are constantly reminded
that they are an audience, and that
they have gathered to consider big,
important ideas: “the nature of fate,
justice, freedom, vengeance, law,
and moral culpability.” Thinking
about such issues as a group
“brings us together in a kind of
psychic way too” Michael believes.
“All those individual minds being
brought to bear simultaneously,
within the crucible of theatre,
on the nature of the human
condition, makes for a very rich
moment in time.” He describes it
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as “a very human moment, ancient
and modern.”
In Michael’s view, Lysistrata
provides a brilliant opportunity
for this kind of human communion
today, as it did when first staged.
“Lysistrata has the brilliant,
notorious and still outrageous
comic device of the sex strike by
the women of Greece used as a
way of forcing the men into peace.
I think this alone would have
contributed to its popularity in the
ancient world and its subsequent
survival into modern times.”
“Notwithstanding the fact that
it was written by men, for men, and
that all of the roles were played by
men, there is a sense of feminism
that hovers about the play, and
this makes us look at it through
the eyes of women who, to the
ancient Athenian, have all of the
privileges of being a man. Like
all great pieces of literature, the
modern lens provides more rather
than less.”
While themes of sex and desire
are still strong today, Michael says
there are some aspects that do sit
less easily in a modern context.
“Although there’s this glorious
long joke about sexual tension, all
this stuff that everybody today will
love, the most absurd thing in the
play — according to the play — is
the notion that women could ever
run anything. And so we’ve got
to remember that although it’s a
modern twist on the play, it will
always feel slightly of its time.”
SETTING AND PERIOD
In setting the historical period
for this production, therefore,
Michael Hurst has taken feminist
advances into account. “There’s a
line in the play: ‘I refuse to take
orders from anyone wearing a
dress’. I thought, ‘when is the
last time you would have heard a
man say that and have any kind
of credibility?’” He decided the
early 1970s was the last time
such a comment might have been
acceptable in Western society. “I
don’t think this play translates to
the twenty-first century just like
that. We’ve come too far. Even
though there are still inequalities
between the sexes, no-one in their
right mind would say something
like that now and have any traction
whatsoever.”
In the 1970s, however, things
were different. Michael says,
“Remember when we all thought
smoking and drinking were
cool? Glass ashtrays on carpets…
Microphones on leads… Burn your
bra, that sort of thing.” While he
has no desire to stick slavishly to
representing the 1970s, the style
of the period will inform design
choices for the production.
ADAPTING THE TEXT
In creating this production,
Michael is following in the
footsteps of the Greek didaskalos.
He is not only the show’s director
but he has also largely created
the script, adapting the classic
Greek play for a modern audience. Michael acknowledges the
influence of Guy Davonport, who
translated older material from the
ancient Greek theatre into modern
idiom, saying “you’ll find some of
that in this script, because I always
thought it was great.” This older
material includes writing (from
authors like Sappho, Akilakos
and Alchemon) that dates back
to 650BC. Michael describes it
as “songs in praise of beauty, in
complete wonderment at the power
of Eros and desire… effectively,
anti-war songs.”
Whilst following the structure
of the original text, Michael has
taken liberties with his adaptation;
including writing a completely new
scene (where the men succumb
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to a collective delirium) and
transplanting lines from the men’s
chorus onto the characters of the
General, Naxos and Drakes.
MUSIC , MOVEMENT
AND RITUAL
Music is a critical element of
the production; Michael says, “No
music, no show.” Composer John
Gibson agrees that “the music has
got to capture the intimacy and
the heart of the show.” He says his
brief to himself was “make it as old
and as new as possible”. Achieving
this has meant sampling from a
wide range of musical periods and
styles: “it’s got Prince, it’s got beats,
it’s got an orchestra – it’s got all
kinds of things. It’s epic. Like Aida
on top of a comedy.”
Michael loves the variety of
moods John’s music captures. He
says “not only is there this fabulous
rambunctious and kind of comedic
burlesque level to it, there is also
mystery.”
Choreographer Shona
McCullagh agrees. “When you
listen to John’s music, there is this
incredible collision between the
mystic and the modern.” Shona
says the play illustrates that in
Greek culture, the body was “so
prevalent – and that’s our way in
choreographically. There’s this
deep, religious honouring of
the body.” Michael says “there
is a big ritualistic element to the
whole show. These women would
all have been at the ceremonies
for Artemis outside Athens. They
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would have taken part in religious
competitions...” This mysticism will
be actively invoked in performance.
Michael explains “we will summon
Aphrodite, and try to make that
genuinely happen as part of the
production, because I think the
audience needs to be overwhelmed
by this. That’s the thing I really
want to happen – transforming,
as much as we can, the audience’s
state.” He laughs, and says to the
actors, “no pressure!”
ACTORS / CHORUS
Michael does acknowledge
that the play will be demanding of
the actors. “Comedy takes more
energy” he explains. “Brighter
lights (which are a theatrical
convention, because it’s hard to
play comedy in the dark) mean
more exposure, so actors need to
be really on their game to pull it
off.” However, the cast are rising
to the challenge. They are learning
the appropriate lifts, dances and
movement to create the elements
of slapstick humour and physical
grace integral to the production.
This production has a large
cast for an Auckland show, with
12 actors. However, it is still
smaller than it would have been
in its original production where a
24 strong chorus of ‘women’ would
have been the norm; “Imagine
three women coming on from
there, six from there, as if each
group were from a different part of
Greece… That’s how it would have
been originally.” The chorus of
women would have been able to fill
the stage, overpowering the men.
Michael explains that now, each of
the women characters is a single
representative, standing in for the
women of a city or region.
THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES
Madness and mayhem arise
from the comic conflict between
the sexes. Michael explains that the
play’s trajectory is about “shifting
from normalcy to completely
losing it. Everybody loses it.”
He sees the plot as taking place
during a one night party, with the
final scene occurring as the sun
comes up. “By the time the men
are leaping around in negligees
and such, it’s 4.30 in the morning
and everyone’s a bit far gone.” This
increasing intoxication is entirely
in keeping with the wild Dionysian
rituals in which the original Greek
comedies were grounded.
However, the play also has
more ordinary, human elements
— such as the relationship
between the older characters.
Though they are the most abusive
to each other throughout, they
are also the first to resolve their
differences. One of the old men
has something in his eye, and
plays it up to gain sympathy and
assistance: “that little boy thing
that men often have” says Michael.
While his female counterpart is
seemingly unsympathetic, she
helps and restores his sight — and
their relationship with it. The
moment offers a tender reality to
counterbalance the wilder gender
battle of the younger characters.
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“It’s a domestic moment that’s
about real companionship” says
Michael, “and I think that’s
important in the play.”
Lysistrata veers drunkenly from
politics to domesticity, from the
profane to the spiritual, and from
the sublime to the ridiculous. It’s
a wild ride, for the director, the
creative team, the performers and
the audience. Michael wants the
whole thing to be an enormous
amount of fun. “There’s lots of
room to play,” he says. “It’s called
a play, and that’s what we’re going
to do with it. Play.”
Rachael Walker
MAKING THE
MONUMENTAL:
PRODUCTION
DESIGN
ACTIVITIES
• Michael says this play, even in its original version, has “a sense of
feminism”, but also points out that its central joke is the idea that
women could be in charge. Explore this key theme:
º What does “feminism” mean to you in the
twenty-first century?
º How relevant did the jokes in the play seem to modern experience?
º How do you see the ‘battle of the sexes’ played out in New Zealand culture — and in other cultural contexts — today?
• Was there any moment during the performance where you felt a
sense of “mystery”? If so, how was this achieved? If not, how would
YOU have created a sense of spiritual presence and power?
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SETTING AND PERIOD
Set designer Rachael Walker
says her set draws on the play’s
original setting, combining this
with the 1970s look Michael is
after. “We have this modern retro
lens, but of course we also have
to reference ancient Greece. The
set is very much influenced by
the beautiful structures that are
the gates of the Acropolis. It’s a
monumental gateway; I’ve taken
all the ancient architecture and
simplified it. The modern take on
it is that instead of beautiful stone,
the surface is raw cast concrete.”
Real concrete would, of course,
be too heavy for the theatre stage,
so Rachael has sourced a lighter
look-alike. “It’s a fibreglass plaster
product, which will be the face of
it; it’s a really naturalistic texture
for the surface. The sides will be
a matched render. It’s very matt,
very modern.” The wall will be an
impressive five and a half metres
tall, with the crossover at the top of
the doorway covering the existing
Q Theatre architecture of the
balcony rail.
The other main feature will
be a ramp, 20metres long and
3metres wide, running from the
theatre doors upstage to the wall.
Rachael explains “it starts from
ground level, and rises to a metre,
representing the incline up to the
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blamed Alcibiades (an Athenian
politician, who was a frequent
visitor to enemy Sparta), for the
destruction. Crowds rioted, fearing
reprisals from the Gods for the act
of sacrilege.
Michael feels it is important to
be upfront about the central joke of
the play, quoting the old Mae West
line ‘is that a gun in your pocket
or are you just pleased to see me?’
As he explains, “in the classical
tradition, the actors would all have
worn giant phalluses…” (Apparently
YouTube has some indicative
videos featuring grotesquely
large sponge phalluses.) Michael’s
slightly subtler suggestion is that
when the audience returns from
the interval, the herm is erect
symbolising the men’s rising
sexual frustration.
Acropolis.” This is a very shallow
rake; Rachael calls it “a 20metre
long wheelchair ramp!” (As it
happens, this comes in handy,
as one character in the show has
been assigned a wheelchair.)
The ramp adds to the sense of
scale. As Michael points out, the
stage becomes very long, and “a
real ‘showbiz’ sort of space”. He
intends to create a production
that responds to the space: “very
dramatic, with lots of movement,
and lots of different views for
the audience.”
There are only two entrances
and exits — through the Acropolis
gates, or from the auditorium
end of the ramp. Once the
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women arrive, they take over
and control the Acropolis, so
that becomes “the women’s end”
of the space, and men cannot
enter the sacred gates.
At the other end of the ramp
will be a herm. Michael explains
“these were common in classical
Athens. They’re man-sized
columns with a head on the top,
usually a bust of Dionysus, and
they’re just a column, but at the
correct height, there’s a penis — a
little, flaccid penis.” These herms
were very important in Greek
culture. One night, someone went
around Athens smashing all the
genitals off the columns. There
was a political uproar; people
Michael originally wanted sand
for the floor surface, but there are
lots of logistical issues with using
real sand: it is extremely heavy, it
is hard to dance on, and it tends to
go everywhere — including into
sensitive places like theatre light
fittings and people’s eyes. Thus
“the sand has become this really
textured carpet” Rachael explains,
“with a 20mm deep pile, so it looks
like shag.” (On stage, the carpet has
to be really thick pile to ‘read’ as
shag-pile — 20mm is much longer
pile than a standard household
shag carpet.) To allow actors to
reach different levels, the herm
will be constructed so that it is
solid enough for an actor to climb
onto. There are also three gold
prop pieces, again solid enough for
actors to sit or stand on.
ACTIVITIES
• What metaphors or associations do the various elements of the set
suggest? (Perhaps consider the opening to the Acropolis, the ramp,
the herm, the sand…)
• How is the set used in the show? What use has choreographer
Shona McCullagh made of the space to illustrate key ideas through
movement and dance?
• Imagine you are staging Lysistrata in one of the original Greek
amphitheatres. Design a mask for one of the characters that
would allow people at the back of the theatron to understand that
character’s personality and status at a glance.
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Troy Garton
COSTUME DESIGN
In terms of the costuming, the look is a combination of flowing
Greek and 70s chic. The different colours of the women’s costumes
illustrate that they come from different geographic areas,
maintaining their diversity and individuality even as they come
together to form a coherent chorus.
Lysistrata’s costumes indicate
her glamour and power. Michael
says “She’s the controller, and
she’s always been the controller.
Lysistrata is the one who got
the best scores at Artemis camp
and became the high priestess;
everyone jumps when she
commands.”
The other women each
have their own characteristics,
which are underlined by
costume elements.
Myrrhine is already quite
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drunk when she arrives at the
beginning of the play; her clothes
and make-up illustrate her status
as the group’s ‘good-time girl’.
Michael sees the Spartan
character of Lampito as a kind of
Russian or Serbian athlete – “like
those women who do shot-putting”
– and her clothes emphasise her
solid build and physical strength.
Stratylis, as an older woman,
has a more degraded, less
elegant costume. “There’s a bit
of spilt food, a bit of not-quite-
hygienic in it,” Michael explains.
The men’s costumes are
simpler, but still illustrative of
their roles, status, and gradual
unravelling.
General Praxis is based on
Michael’s memories of George C.
Scott as General Buck Turgidson
in Stanley Kubrik’s political satire
film Dr. Strangelove. “It brings
out the whole American feel of it.
I’ve turned the fire, into his cigar
chewing action, partly because
I love the image, and partly
because it costs so much to use fire
in the theatre!
The Magistrate is like the
President, starting out in “a sharp
suit”. Again, as the play progresses
he gradually becomes less
buttoned up.
Naxos’ costume goes from
formal uniform to a simpler
version.
Kenesias follows a similar
pattern, but his clothes demonstrate
that he is of lower rank.
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John Gibson
Shona McCullagh
MUSIC AND
CHOREOGRAPHY
ACTIVITIES
• Choose one female and one male character from the show, and do a
detailed analysis of each costume. What do the colours, textures, cut
and style of the garments indicate about each character? What about
the choice of accessories?
• Imagine you were setting Lysistrata in your own school. How would
the male and female characters be dressed? What gender and status
markers can you identify in today’s youth fashion trends?
• What is your response to the ‘disrobing’ in the play? How do you
feel about the display of bodies on stage? How did the audience as
a whole respond to this aspect of the production? What might this
suggest about our attitudes and values around our physicality?
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Music, song and movement
are interwoven throughout this
production of Lysistrata.
These elements unite to
help tell the story whilst also
powerfully evoking the world
of the play; an ancient world of
ritual and wonder.
According to Composer John
Gibson, ancient Greece was also
a world where “Music was at the
centre of education and life; every
Athenian sang and played the
Kithara (an early guitar).” John
was influenced by the music of The
Balkans “…wild, passionate and
melancholic. The word Balkan can
be translated as honey and blood,
which is fitting as the rhythms are
so sharp they can cut you and the
melodies hold an oasis of feeling.
These sounds can still be heard
in the Greek Orthodox Church in
Sardinia, Italy, Turkey and Persia.
All of these influences would have
been streaming into Greece in
Aristophane’s time”.
In order to create the music on
stage without a live band, the tracks
have been pre-recorded and mixed,
then filled out by the performers
singing live at each performance
to give a full sound with plenty
of depth. “It’s a complex process,
but it’s going to be awesome. We’ll
make it really outrageous,” John
says. “Ancient Greece was like the
New York or Liverpool of its time.
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I don’t believe that the music that
they played was anything like the
static music you hear representing
the era on YouTube. Instead, I’ve
tried to capture how it might have
felt to a Greek of the time to hear
the music. It will be as exciting, as
juicy, as generous and as heartfelt
as we can possibly make it.”
Whilst John composed the
music, performed by a six-piece
band, the lyrics were created from
the ancient Greek poetry of Sappho
Archilicos and Aristophanes.
CHOREOGRAPHY
Choreographer Shona
McCullagh has been to Greece and
admired “the incredible intricacy
of the choreography shown on
one small urn.” She would love to
translate that sense into movement
for this show. “So, for example, the
song ‘Run, Kalonike, Run’ becomes
this amazing moving frieze of
activity that changes and morphs
and tells a story.” There is also “a
lot of boisterous men’s activity”
reflecting Dionysian revels.
Modern elements will have
their place in the dance; as a
counter to the health and fertility
images, one male chorus member
will be ‘costumed’ in a wheelchair.
(Director Michael Hurst says
“but if you need to get out of the
wheelchair at any point, you can
get out. Once we’ve made that
statement, we can make another
statement. I’m not at all worried
about that.”) This provides a whole
range of opportunities for Shona in
choreographing the show.
ACTIVITIES
• Discuss the choices of music at various points in the play. What
informed these specific choices? How did the music contribute to the
mood at any particular point?
• Shona talks about “an amazing moving frieze of activity”, basing
her image on pictures from classical Greek urns. Create your own
silhouette urn drawing using one tableau from the play. How
does the arrangement balance? What is communicated by this
configuration of the characters?
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27
RESOURCES
AND READINGS
“Aristophanes: Biography.” Encyclopedia of World
Biography. Accessed 16-07-2015. Web. http://www.notablebiographies.
com/An-Ba/Aristophanes.html#ixzz3g1VV0zdj.
Aristophanes. Lysistrata. (Trans. Jack Lindsay). Project Gutenburg
E-book. Accessed 03-05-2015. Web. https://www.gutenberg.org/
files/7700/7700-h/7700-h.htm
Bloom, Harold, ed. Aristophanes. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2002.
ATC EDUCATION
ATC Education promotes
and encourages teaching and
participation in theatre and
acts as a resource for secondary
and tertiary educators. It is a
comprehensive and innovative
education programme
designed to nurture young
theatre practitioners and future
audiences.
ATC Education has direct
contact with secondary school
students throughout the greater
Auckland region with a focus on
delivering an exciting and popular
programme that supports the Arts
education of Auckland students
and which focuses on curriculum
development, literacy and the Arts.
Auckland Theatre Company
acknowledges that the experiences
enjoyed by the youth of today are
reflected in the vibrancy of theatre
in the future.
“Comedy in Ancient Greek Theatre.” Presenter Melvin Bragg, producer
Natasha Maw. BBC Radio4: In Our Time. Published 14-07-2006. Accessed
17-07-2015. Web. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003c1d3
Dobrov, Gregory. Figures of Play: Greek Drama and Metafictional
Poetics. Oxford, 2001. CURRICULUM LINKS
Dover K.J. Aristophanic Comedy. Berkeley, 1972.
Hughes, Alan. Performing Greek Comedy. Cambridge, 2012.
Lowe, N.J. Comedy. Cambridge, 2008.
MacDowell, D.M. Aristophanes and Athens. Oxford, 1995.
Platnauer, Maurice. "Aristophanes". Encyclopædia Britannica.
Encyclopædia Britannica Online.Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.2015http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/34467/
Aristophanes.Web. Accessed 21.05.2015.
Sommerstein, A. Aristophanes: Lysistrata. Warminster, 1990.
Taaffe, Lauren. Aristophanes and Women. London, 1994.
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ATC Education activities
relate directly to the PK, UC and
CI strands of the NZ Curriculum
from levels 5 to 8. They also
have direct relevance to many
of the NCEA achievement
standards at all three levels.
All secondary school Drama
students (Years 9 to 13) should
be experiencing live theatre
as a part of their course work,
Understanding the Arts in
Context. Curriculum levels 6,
7 and 8 (equivalent to years 11,
12 and 13) require the inclusion
of New Zealand drama in their
course of work.
The NCEA external
examinations at each level (Level
1 – AS90011, Level 2 – AS91219,
Level 3 – AS91518) require students
to write about live theatre they
have seen. Students who are able
to experience fully produced,
professional theatre are generally
advantaged in answering these
questions.
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ENGAGE
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
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Places to find out more about ATC and
engage with us:
www.atc.co.nz
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@akldtheatreco
AUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY
487 Dominion Road, Mt Eden PO Box 96002, Balmoral, Auckland 1342
Ph: 09 309 0390 Fax: 09 309 0391 Email: atc@atc.co.nz
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