Lysistrata's Children

Event: Lysistrata's Children
Theater for the New City
1 Hour

Lysistrata's Children is a play in which all the actors are children ranging from ages 10-16. It explores the history of war in the US and poses the question, "is war necessary?" The children realize that the government plays a large part of creating a war and at one point, the American Flag is wrapped around the gun. The meaning behind this is that the government condones violence. The group of kids were wondering if there were other ways of solving a conflict using non-violent means (mediation and discussion) and how this could happen. They would have to get through to the government meaning they have to get through to the people supporting the government, aka their parents. As the play continues, the students rally together to think about ways they can persuade their parents to take an oath against war. The goal was to have all their parents sign an actual oath pledging their dedication to end the use of wars and to support non-violent means. Through the persuasive powers of all the children, they were able to get their parents to comply.

Watching this play made me really sit down and think about how it is true that we've been involved in many wars since the creation of our country. The fact that I know that the play was written based on a discussion all the actors had with each other about war and if and when it is necessary, it shows teachers that this is a conversation that could be incorporated into curriculum. All the wars that America has been involved in could be studied and the necessity of these wars could be explored. I found the play to be interesting and powerful based on this fact that it may not have been directly written by the child actors but based on what they had to say. It puts this idea of the necessity of wars in the perspective of kids.