Lysistrata's Children

Name of event: Lysistrata's Children
Where: Theater for the New City
Time & Date: 11/23/08, 3:00-4:00

I personally loved Lysistrata's Children and thought the concept was so clever. The play is a derivative of the Greek comedy by Aristophanes. The original play is about Lysistrata's effort to enforce peace and end the Peloponnesian War. In order to do this, she gathers all the women in the town and they brainstorm how they could influence their husbands enough to stop fighting. They decide to withhold sex from their husbands when they return from each battle until they agree to stop fighting. Eventually, all the men give in and end the violence.

Lysistrata's Children was put on by students in 6th to 12th grade from the Friends Seminary. They took part in the entire process of creating this play from helping write the scenes to putting together a mini band to play accompanying music. The premise of the play is quite similar to Lysistrata, but instead of a group of women coming together to end the fighting, a group of children led by one particularly passionate child, Lindsay, bands together to influence the adults to sign an oath of Victory over Violence. They brainstormed a plethora of funny ways to influence their parents, but eventually, decided that the best option would be to withhold love and affection from their parents- to take away everything that made parenthood joyful.

I was blown away by the students' performances and their passion for the material. I thought it was a great way to have the students spread a message in a completely peaceful manner and also to get students really involved. By having the students take part in every aspect of putting on the play, it gave students who might have extreme stage fright or little passion for acting a chance to help out as well. It's a great way to show that you don't need to be in the limelight in order to be making a difference, and often it's the people doing the unseen work are making everything possible. The play gave these children a venue to speak out, and I find that children's voices can actually be really influential. I think putting on a play with a theme for social justice is definitely possible in 5th grade and up, and it's a wonderful way to tie in all the subject areas under one essential understanding.