No sex without armistice (From Your Local Guardian)

Raunchy fun at the Fairfields in rendition of Lysistrata

4:10pm Friday 10th February 2012 in Music By Nick Hitchens

The women of Athens have crossed their legs and locked their bedrooms as they enforce celibacy to end their men’s warring.

Theatre company Actors of Dionysus have revived the classic Ancient Greek play Lysistrata, bringing a modern taste to the 2,400 year old play.

With their men seemingly determined to engage in war until eternity the women of Athens engage in a sex ban to try and bring about peace.

Bawdy jokes and crude innuendo belie a strong message about the futility of war and the impact it has one those waiting at home, explains director Gillian King.

She says: “Yes it is bawdy and lewd in places, but it is not completely tasteless. I have been to productions where every word is laden with sexual innuendo and after a while it just become boring. It is a comedy, and the production is very funny, but Lysistrata is also about the pointlessness of war.

“In 2003 60 countries around the world organised for productions of Lysistrata to be staged in protest of the American invasion of Iraq, so there is a strong tradition of the play’s political message.”

One of 11 surviving compositions by Athenian playwright Aristophanes, it was written during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta.

King, who has more than 20 years experience as an actor and director is keen to retain the ancient elements to the production but has also brought in more modern elements.

She says: “The men are in camouflage but designed with a hint of the Greek tunic while the women are in a sort of beach sarong.

“Rather than the traditional Greek chorus we have a new score from composer Adam Pallister which includes a touch of burlesque, barber shop and rap.”

Lysistrata, February 22 to 24 two showings daily 2pm and 7pm Wednesday and Friday, 11am and 3pm at The Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon.