Fools For Tragedy returns to the stage this month with Jordan Gwiazdowski's adaptation of Ian Johnston's translation of Arisophanes' Lysistrata--the story of a group of women protesting a war by refusing to have sex until peace is attained.
It's a comedy that is as topical now as it's ever been for a whole variety of reasons which should be intrinsically obvious. The fact that it's still being produced almost 2.5 millennia after it was originally staged marks it as one of the oldest surviving political dramas in the history of the stage. So it goes without saying that it's a good story. Director Jordan Gwiazdowski and company clearly have had a good time putting it together as a remarkably sharp contemporary comedy.
Jen Gaul stars in the title role of Lysistrata--a woman trying to instigate the protest. From the beginning it is quite clear that she's in over her head. Gaul has an enchantingly endearing stage presence to begin with . . . here she's putting that to good use in rendering a personality that is meek and vulnerable yet principled and courageous. She dresses in contemporary business professional attire. She has a very professional demeanor about her. As the play opens, she's got a plan to end the war and she clearly knows that it should work, but she's burdened with self-doubt. She's heartbreakingly magnetic. It's really difficult to watch her performance and not want her to succeed. A small, lithe figure onstage she seems dwarfed by everything else . . . even on the intimate studio stage at Carte Blanche.
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Laura Holterman plays the aggressive punk personality. The role may not give her a whole lot to do, but she's got a really magnetic dynamic about her that serves the role well. Holterman is a great deal of fun as an imposing force that absolutely must join the cause in order for it to succeed. She's able to say a LOT with posture and attitude alone, so she doesn't have to have too many lines to have a clear effect on the overall mood of the comedy.
Amber Smith plays Calonice--her neighbor. Here she is played as a wealthy, class-conscious woman. Crisp and sharp with a bottomless purse gag that never seems to get old, she's ready for anything. The three women backing-up Lysistrata are all different personalities and she's the Real Housewife of the group. Smith is good with precision and she's irrepressibly clever with the precision she's been given to play here.
Dressed as a grunge girl, Michelle White has kind of a '90s slacker personality about her that seems the most sedate of the three energies onstage here. As the role in question is that of Myrhine, she's the one who is required to be the most physically dynamic in a seduction scene that she carries off quite well. It's quite a contrast to the FTW power slouching that she's doing through much of the rest of the play.
Gwiazdowski has stated elsewhere online what these characters represent, but here's my take on it: Holterman is the aggressive '70s nihilistic punk aesthetic (not " '80s rocker/biker,") Smith is the superficial, style-conscious '80s aesthetic, (not the "strong '60s woman,") White is the stylishly apathetic grunge '90s aesthetic (guess I agree with Gwiazdowski on that one) . . . and that makes Gaul the contemporary feminist identity trying to pull it all together. (And not "the feminist revolution of the early '70s") Laura McDonald appears in the role of an old woman who would have been through the struggle to get suffrage and the whole women's liberation thing so she's sort of the elder stateswoman here . . .
So even if I don't quite agree with Gwiazdowski on the specifics of what he's saying here, I like what he's doing . . . reflecting a history of different cultural dynamics that are looking for unification right now. The rational end of human consciousness is trying to get it together for the sake of humanity. Yes, it's a light comedy with Gwiazdowski performing with a dildo in his shorts and Robby McGhee doing an excellent job with some light physical comedy, but at it's heart, there seems to be a lot going on here. And so much of it is so fun.
Fools For Tragedy's production of Lysistrata runs through March 23rd at the Carte Blanche Studio Theatre on 1024 South 5th Street. For ticket reservations, visit brownpapertickets.com
