At What Price Peace? The Lysistrata Project Encourages Anti-War Sentiment

Lysistrata, Aristophanes’ classic comedy focusing on a group of women who withhold sex from their husbands to stop a war, has become the basis for a worldwide plea for peace instituted by actresses Kathryn Blume and Sharron Bower.

Blume and Bower have founded The Lysistrata Project, a worldwide effort to produce readings of the play in different cities on March 3 to protest the war against Iraq. They hope to use the humor of the play to address the serious question, “What can we do on a local level to stop ‘diplomacy by violence’ in our world?”

Since the project was announced on January 6, a number of cities have signed on; among those slated to host readings of Lysistrata are New York, Seattle, Athens, Munich, Vienna, and Bern.

For detailed information about The Lysistrata Project, including how to spearhead a reading in your city, visit the website www.LysistrataProject.com.