We thought that might get your attention.
In Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata, the women of Greece took a novel approach to anti-war protests: When they tired of war, they withheld their sexual favors from Greece’s men until the guys stopped fighting.
Which is why the worldwide theatrical anti-war protest The Lysistrata Project is promoting hundreds of performances of the play across the globe on March 3. At last count, some 605 groups in 38 countries will stage readings of the Greek comedy next Monday.
The region plays host to two of them. Dog and Pony Show and Shakespeare & Originals will stage a benefit for Food Not Bombs at Durham’s Jordan High School at 8 p.m. Their list of special on-stage guests reads like a “who’s who” in Triangle theater. Meredith Sause will appear in the title role, joined by theatrical luminaries including Kate Finlayson, Jeri Lynn Schulke, Katja Hill, Tom Marriott, Clay Taliaferro, and regional directors Jerome Davis, Matthew Spangler and Scott Alan Pardue. Suggested donation? “What you’d normally spend in one day on objects you consume: food, candy, beer,” says Dog and Pony’s Lissa Brennan. For further information, call 286-0456.
That afternoon, actor Kurt Benrud hosts a staged reading at N.C. State’s Caldwell Hall at 4 p.m. At this writing, the list of local guests is still in development, but includes Fred and Diane Corlett, Max Halperin, and Dr. Debra Hooker from N.C. State’s English department. For further details, call 467-6554, or visit the Web site: www.lysistrataproject.com.
–Byron Woods
