Lysistratas on the modern stage

Hardwick, Lorna (2010). Lysistratas on the modern stage. In: Stuttard, David ed. Looking at Lysistrata. London: Duckworth, pp. 80–89.

Abstract

In Aristophanes’ Lysistrata the women of Athens, fed up with the war against Sparta, go on a sex strike and barricade themselves into the acropolis to persuade their husbands to vote against the war. It is the most often performed of all Aristophanes’ comedies. It is also, perhaps, the most misunderstood. This essay is one of a collection of essays by eight leading academics, written for sixth-form students and the general public alike. They set the play firmly in its historical and social context, while exploring Aristophanes’ purpose in writing it and considering the responses of modern audiences and directors. The collection has been assembled and edited by David Stuttard, whose energetic new performing version of the play is included in this volume.

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