The Lysistrata Project was developed in January as a response to frustration with the rapidly growing talk of war on Iraq.
Not-for-profit theater groups across the world will all hold readings of Lysistrata, Aristophanes's anti-war comedy, Monday, March 3.
Currently 562 readings are planned in 36 different countries.
Washington College is one of those sites holding a reading. Senior Jillian Fletcher is organizing the event.
"The reading here has been conceived in a coffee-house style. We want to have a day of exploring the situation through visual arts, music, poetry, prose, speeches and, of course, a staged-reading of a scene from Lysistrata," Fletcher explained.
Fletcher said, "I was desperately searching for something to do in the languages I most understand, which are generally art and theatre oriented, not strictly political. So I signed WC onto the project and have slowly been building a base of interested students, faculty, staff and community members."
The readings and productions are meant to serve as an introduction and a calling together in order for a community dialogue to be initiated in which people can discuss their feelings about the possible war and find local action in which to engage to put a stop to the frightening mobilization," continued Fletcher.
Lysistrata is set in 5th century Athens where a group of women come together in an act of dissent to cease the fighting that has been tearing their country apart.
It is about people claiming their right to live in a country that acts with its citizens' best interest in mind and realizing that they have a voice, which can be used effectively.
Fletcher described, "The script is filled with very appropriate and eerily relevant lines about the situation in Greece which echo today's world situation."
Her favorite line reads, "It's intelligence and common sense that we need, not violence."
Art is an appropriate medium for speaking out because, as Fletcher said, "it exists in order to create and speak, unbounded by anything, to show others humanity, to remind them and strip off their blinders, to flare into their bodies and hearts the sheer beauty of us (the world, all people) at our best form and the sheer and fruitless destruction of that beauty in which we are currently (and all too often) engaged."
Said Fletcher of the President's recent actions regarding the situation in Iraq, "I do not understand Bush's call to war. I do not understand killing others to 'preserve our way of life.'"
She continued, "Aristophanes has a message Bush may want to consider: 'he who uses force without good reason should not complain on getting a black eye.'"
Fletcher spoke on how a war with Iraq would change Americans' lives: "If this war is let to happen, it affects us for the rest of our lives. It is not an isolated event, nothing is, and we can not isolate ourselves. We are part of a world community and we must learn to respect and cherish that."
Junior Sarah Middleton is one of the many students involved with The Lysistrata Project.
She said, "I thought, 'What better way to get the anti-war view across then through artistic expression?' I hope to inform more people that the political situation we are in is real."
She added, "What I mean is this: Just a few months ago, a lot of us were hoping that the idea of war would go away, or that it wasn't such an issue as the media was making it sound. Unfortunately, it is a big deal and it's not going away. No one should want war or jump to it as an answer for everything."
I don't know if there is an other option then going to war. But put it this way: I'm willing to look for one. There has to be other ways to defend our country and its safety," Middleton continued.
For more information on The Lysistrata Project visit http://www.pecosdesign.com/lys/.
To find out how you can get involved on campus, contact Fletcher at jfletcher2@washcoll.edu.
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