RED EARTH THEATRE AT TLAQUEPAQUE
The simple stripped-down theatrical performances, featuring local performers and a variety of live forms, offer a range of spoken word materials from short plays, scenes, monologues, poetry, improv, music, dance and live art. Future dates include May 16 and June 20, with a full production of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream in September.
Find us at the Patio de las Campanas, behind the fountain in front of El Rincon Restaurant at 7.30pm on Third Thursdays. (Suggested donation $10.)
LYSISTRATA - Thursday June 2oth at 7pm
Lysistrata in the Arches - A Battle of the Sexes.
Red Earth Theatre brings a reading of Aristophanes’ anti-war comedy ‘Lysistrata’ to the stone arches at Tlaquepaque on Thursday June 20th at 7.30 outdoors in the Patio de las Campanas. What can mere women in 5th century BC Greek culture do to stop their men from going away to war? They have the answer and it requires a certain a fortitude of character and passionate commitment to peace.
This translation by Jeffery Henderson does not shy away from the heart of the story when the women, led by the indomitable Lysistrata, elect to withhold the very thing their men want most (and they too, truth be told) in the name of stopping the endless cycle of war in which their country is embroiled.
Written 21 years into the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), an ancient Greek war fought by the Delian League led by Athens against the Spartans, Aristophanes elected to write a comedy to express his grief over the thousands of Athenians who had recently lost their lives in the defeat at Syracuse.
In 2003 The Lysistrata Project reached over 56 countries with 919 readings as a worldwide theatre event for peace, embracing the farcical idea of withholding sex as a means to end war to make a serious statement. Today productions can be found throughout the country and perhaps the metaphor of war can be extended to include how we treat our environment.
Actors in this reading include Ashlee Threlkeld as Lysistrata, Kaia True as Myrrhine, Terra Shelman as Calonice with Tiffany Grimm, Cathy Ransom, Esther Henselmans, Sandi Schenholm, Connie Patrick, Gale Grove and Nell Benson. The men are represented by Dave Belkiewitz, Lawrence Cohen, Dylan Marshall, Mitch McDermott, Mike Cosentino and Larry Rosenberg.
Director Kate Hawkes was honored to play Lysistrata for the 2003 Lysistrata Project in the Portland Oregon reading, where she lived before coming to Sedona in 2008. She believes that reading this play fully meets the mission of Red Earth Theatre, to provide a platform to inspire and nurture many voices through live performance, and encourage dialogue exploring the human experience in our diverse communities.
Red Earth brings a wide variety of live theatre to the Verde Valley, most recently the production ‘Darkside’ by Tom Stoppard, and is honored to present this monthly series of live theatre at Tlaquepaque. Taking July off, Red Earth returns in August with the Monsoon Show and will kick off the next season with a full production of Shakespeare’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in September.
Presented with good humor and tongue in cheek, ‘Lysistrata’ will encourage you to contemplate the ways of relationships and behavior of humanity in the context of our world – from 2,500 years ago to today.
Join Red Earth Theatre on Thursday June 20th at 7.30pm and witness an age-old story of men and women, power and sex, war and peace as it unfolds in the arches of Tlaquepaque. Bring your sense of humor and leave the children at home.
Suggested donation $10 at the door. Not Suitable for Children.
