Sex and War on the American Stage - Lysistrata in Performance 1930-2012

American adaptations of Aristophanes' enduring comedy Lysistrata have used laughter to critique sex, war, and feminism for nearly a century. Unlike almost any other play circulating in contemporary theatres, Lysistrata has outlived its classical origins in 411 BCE and continues to shock and delight audiences to this day. The play's "make love not war" message and bawdy humor render it endlessly appealing to college campuses, activist groups, and community theatres - so much so that none of Aristophanes' plays are performed in the West as frequently as Lysistrata.
Starting with the play's first mainstream production in the U.S. in 1930, Emily B. Klein explores the varied iterations of Lysistrata that have graced the American stage, page, and screen since the Great Depression. These include the Federal Theatre's 1936 Negro Repertory production, the 1955 movie musical The Second Greatest Sex and Spiderwoman Theater's openly political Lysistrata Numbah!, as well as Douglas Carter Beane's Broadway musical, Lysistrata Jones, and the international Lysistrata Project protests, which updated the classic in the contemporary context of the Iraq War.

List of contents

Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction Power Play
History, Theory, and Adaptation
Chapter 1 Sophisticated or Seditious?
Broadway, Gilbert Seldes, and Pablo Picasso (1930)
Chapter 2 Raced Bodies/Erased Bodies
The Federal Theatre Project’s Negro Repertory Lysistrata (1936)
Chapter 3 Cold War Cowboys at Home on the Range
The Second Greatest Sex (1955)
Chapter 4 Spinning Yarns
Spiderwoman Theater’s Lysistrata Numbah! (1977)
Chapter 5 Staging Strikes and Trafficking in Trauma
The Lysistrata Project (2003)
Chapter 6 Opting Out and Giving (it) Up
The Uncoupling and Lysistrata Jones (2011-12)
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Product details

• Authors: Emily Klein
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 22.04.2014
• EAN: 9780415812153
• ISBN: 978-0-415-81215-3
• No. of pages: 176
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; USA, LITERARY CRITICISM / Drama, LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient & Classical, LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / General, Theatre Studies, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, United States of America, USA, Literary studies: plays & playwrights, Ancient (Classical) Greek, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, Literary studies: plays and playwrights