Ancient anti-war theatre
JournalNews column
The difference between art and entertainment is this: Entertainment is for the moment, an escape from the rigors and frustrations of our daily lives. Art is for the ages, a commentary on the universal aspects of the rigors and frustrations of our daily lives.
There’s a lot of overlap there. Art can be entertaining — and needs to be in order to get the message across. Likewise, events presented purely as entertainment can be artistic, but there’s probably less pressure for cross-over in that direction since most of us will turn on the television when we wake up and even if we’re not directly basking in the glow of the tube, we let it play in the background of our lives the entire day.
One friend suggested that the reason the quality of television and movie programming seems to be so low these days is because screen time — big and little — are less precious than when there were only three channels broadcasting.
That is, with 150 channels clamoring for our attention, producers often turn to titillation or special interests to keep people from flipping so quickly through the channels.
That’s not to say that popular programming has nothing to say about our culture, but most of the time it’s done without the producers knowing just what kind of statement they make.
It’s hard to imagine, for instance, that “Trading Spaces” or “The Bachelorette” getting much air time in the year 4403.
But a play written some 2,400 years ago will enjoy a remarkable and unprecedented revival next week as 694 (and counting) readings of “Lysistrata” will take place across the country and around the world. Theater groups in 41 and all 50 U.S. states are participating in the mass reading.
“Lysistrata,” a comedy by Greek dramatist Aristophanes, tells the story of a group of women from opposing states who unite to end the Peloponnesian War.
After matronly stormtroopers take over the building where public funds are kept, the women rise to end the war by withholding sex from their mates until, desperate for intimacy, the men finally agree to lay down their swords and see their way to achieving diplomatic peace.
In many ways, “Lysistrata” does contain material specific to its time. Although we’re still not at a level of totally equality between the sexes, women of today certainly have more political clout than women of ancient Greece, who felt that using their sex was their only recourse — and the only way to get a man’s attention on the matter of war. So withholding sex from men may not be as effective of a protest in the modern era, said one man.
A mass reading of the play is better and will serve as a way to begin the dialogue: What can we do to stop our nation’s policy of “diplomacy by invasion”?
I’m aware of two nearby readings. At Miami University, students will conduct a reading 7:30 p.m. Monday in Studio 88, the black box theater in the basement of the Center for Performing Arts. A panel discussion with faculty from the classics, political science, theater, and women's studies departments will follow.
Readings will also take place 7:30 and 10 p.m. at the Monmouth Theatre in Newport, not only to raise awareness of the pending war in Iraq, but also to raise funds for two organizations, the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) and MADRE, a women’s human rights organization.
The difference between art and entertainment is this: Entertainment is for the moment, an escape from the rigors and frustrations of our daily lives. Art is for the ages, a commentary on the universal aspects of the rigors and frustrations of our daily lives.
There’s a lot of overlap there. Art can be entertaining — and needs to be in order to get the message across. Likewise, events presented purely as entertainment can be artistic, but there’s probably less pressure for cross-over in that direction since most of us will turn on the television when we wake up and even if we’re not directly basking in the glow of the tube, we let it play in the background of our lives the entire day.
One friend suggested that the reason the quality of television and movie programming seems to be so low these days is because screen time — big and little — are less precious than when there were only three channels broadcasting.
That is, with 150 channels clamoring for our attention, producers often turn to titillation or special interests to keep people from flipping so quickly through the channels.
That’s not to say that popular programming has nothing to say about our culture, but most of the time it’s done without the producers knowing just what kind of statement they make.
It’s hard to imagine, for instance, that “Trading Spaces” or “The Bachelorette” getting much air time in the year 4403.
But a play written some 2,400 years ago will enjoy a remarkable and unprecedented revival next week as 694 (and counting) readings of “Lysistrata” will take place across the country and around the world. Theater groups in 41 and all 50 U.S. states are participating in the mass reading.
“Lysistrata,” a comedy by Greek dramatist Aristophanes, tells the story of a group of women from opposing states who unite to end the Peloponnesian War.
After matronly stormtroopers take over the building where public funds are kept, the women rise to end the war by withholding sex from their mates until, desperate for intimacy, the men finally agree to lay down their swords and see their way to achieving diplomatic peace.
In many ways, “Lysistrata” does contain material specific to its time. Although we’re still not at a level of totally equality between the sexes, women of today certainly have more political clout than women of ancient Greece, who felt that using their sex was their only recourse — and the only way to get a man’s attention on the matter of war. So withholding sex from men may not be as effective of a protest in the modern era, said one man.
A mass reading of the play is better and will serve as a way to begin the dialogue: What can we do to stop our nation’s policy of “diplomacy by invasion”?
I’m aware of two nearby readings. At Miami University, students will conduct a reading 7:30 p.m. Monday in Studio 88, the black box theater in the basement of the Center for Performing Arts. A panel discussion with faculty from the classics, political science, theater, and women's studies departments will follow.
Readings will also take place 7:30 and 10 p.m. at the Monmouth Theatre in Newport, not only to raise awareness of the pending war in Iraq, but also to raise funds for two organizations, the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) and MADRE, a women’s human rights organization.
