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Sprouty's Account
I went to the performance last Monday and had a great time. My Lysistrata 'experience' actually started the Wednesday before when I realized that they were selling tix online not just at the door the day of. I purchased one and thought I was safe until the next day when 'Pay Pal' still hadn't recorded my purchase. The horror I felt when I realized I might miss my chance to see E.S. perform in person.
(Okay, at this point I should tell you that I'm being melodramatic for effect. After reading about Sprouty's incredible encounters with the lovely red-head, I feel the need to make sure this isn't boring..., lol.)
Hmmm, where was I? Oh yes, I ended up buying another tix online. I'd rather take my chances outside with a 30% chance of rain than relying on my computer during a web-cast.
Fast-forward to Monday... I have a cold so I take Kleenex and meds and head over to the Co-Op at about 7:15. No traffic, easy parking, but the line in front was pretty long. And most didn't have tix. I was afraid they had already started releasing unclaimed seats, but luckily no. I got my two tix, gave the outside one away, and went to stand in line to get in. While outside, we were entertained by a puppet show and 'radical' anti-war cheerleaders from a local high school (actually they looked squeaky clean). A rather brusque woman kept herding us towards the brick wall to keep the aisle clear. I think if she had had a cattle prod she might have used it. 7:45 came and went and still no movement in the line. I amused myself by eavesdropping on CCH Pounder's ( "The Shield", Bagdad Cafe)conversation and peering in the window while the actors were interviewed. I didn't spot E.S. immediately as he was sitting in the audience with his back towards me. He eventually went on stage and took a seat next to Roscoe Lee Browne ("A Different World", Naked in NY) and started chatting with him. R.L. made a comment and ES threw his head back and laughed. Then the director came over and talked to the cast. There were some cheers and clapping before he left the stage. Then, the line moved and we started going in.
I sat under the band and across from the Women's Chorus which gave me a good view of the stage. One of the last people to come in was Mike Farrell (M.A.S.H.) and his wife and they sat directly in front of me. Things got underway when Giaconda Belli, a Nicaraguan poet/author, thanked everyone for coming and then introduced former Senator Tom Hayden (aka Jane Fonda's ex-). He began to speak for a few minutes and then they were disappointed yells from outside because the sound kept going out (this happened a few times). Mary Mc Donnell (Dances with Wolves, Passion Fish) had them stop until the sound was restored. After Tom H. left the band started to play the opening piece with a flute, tamborines, and drum. I recognized a few of the actors - José Zuniga (Spartan emissary), ES (Kinesias), Roscoe Lee Brown (Commissioner), Julie Christie (Kleonike), Alfre Woodard (Lysistrata), Mary Mc Donnell (Myrhinne), and Christine Lahti (Lampito). Many in the Women's Chorus were character actors from TV and film. The women had the best written parts (of course) and overall seemed to be having the most fun (with the exception of C. Lahti, it seemed like she didn't have a feel for the material or didn't like her part, not sure). For those who aren't familiar with the play, the women of Athens enlist women from all over Greece to help them take over the Acropolis (think of it as the equivalent of the Vatican and World Bank all rolled into one) and refuse to come out and/or sleep with their men until they agree to a truce.
E.S.'s part as Kinesias didn't come until about 2/3 through the play. He plays Myrhinne's incredibly hard-up, narcissistic, but universally attractive husband. There is a lot of sexual innuendo and outright bawdiness in the play and ES played it to the hilt (pun intended). He swaggered around, grabbed himself, and got some really big laughs. Mary Mc D. played Myrhinne like a ditsy nymphomaniac and constantly teased him while on stage. The two played off each other very well. One of his lines was "...[I am] her husband, Kinesias, but my friends call me 'Humper'" and earlier Myrhinne had professed to want to be split up the middle like a 'mackerel'. A match made in heaven... Kinesias brings out their child to tempt her to come home, but really just wants her in bed and agrees to do it right on the ground in front of the Acropolis. She agrees and teases him by going and getting various things for his 'comfort' while he agonizes even more by the minute. Eventually, she runs back in the Acropolis for good and leaves him standing talking to his "rod." At which point he decides to head off toward the brothels.
The play ends with the men agreeing to a truce in exchange for land (as represented by a naked servant girl named Peace) ,the women agree to go home with the men, and there is a large drunken party,lol.
There were quite a few other funny bits. For one, the band kept teasing the Spartan character by playing heralds right before each of his lines. And, there is a point when Lysistrata is trying to keep the women from leaving for home to have their 'flax peeled' and the 'wool combed'. There were also a few funny hiccups caused by it being a reading and not a rehearsed performance.
For all of you that are still reading at this point, Eric Stoltz looked well, if a bit tired. He wore beige slip-on loafer type athletic shoes, baggy jeans, a grey sweater with grey shirt underneath, and a camel colored corduroy blazer. He also did his own hair, it seemed, which I would not recommend, lol. Incidentally, when he smiled, I could see his blue eyes all the way to where I was sitting. Awwwww.
I really enjoyed the performances of ES, Roscoe Lee Browne, Mary Mc Donnell, Julie Christie, and an older actress whose name I can't recall. I was happy to see so much support for the event and for the actors. For those of you who aren't aware, there have been campaigns recently started against actors who voice their dissent in public. The climate here right now is reminiscent of the McCarthy era and the Hollywood Blacklist. Some have been threatened and told that they will be prevented from working in the industry. The two major actors' guilds (SAG and AFTRA) had to take out ads stating that in no way would they allow their members to be barred from work because of their political _expression.
I left pretty quickly through an opposite door while the actors were on the other side and had to make their way through the crowd outside. I got a free bumper sticker (woo hoo!) and a nice night out. All in all, definitely my donation's worth.
Ysabella