Lysistrata
by Aristophanes • adapted by Kay Brattan
how.dare.collective • Toronto Fringe • The Painted Lady • 2017
how.dare.collective • Toronto Fringe • The Painted Lady • 2017
My Entertainment World Award Nominee · Best Ensemble
Photos by David Kingsmill and Sly Feiticeira
Aristophanes meets burlesque in a raucous feminist reimagining of Lysistrata, using comedy, music and the body to explore sex, power and who gets to control the narrative.
The ProductionWe took Aristophanes’ ancient comedy and rebuilt it through a contemporary feminist and burlesque lens, creating a production that was deliberately messy, playful, political and unapologetically theatrical.
At the centre was the familiar premise: the women refuse sex in an attempt to force the men to end the war. But rather than treating the sex strike as the joke itself, we were interested in what the play opened up around bodies, gender, desire and who is allowed to wield power. Burlesque gave us a language through which those questions could be explored with humour and pleasure. The body wasn't something to hide or apologise for — it became part of the way the performers could challenge, tease and implicate the audience. |
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Reclaiming the Body
Burlesque allowed us to take a story built around women's bodies and put control of those bodies back into the performers' hands.
I was interested in the difference between being looked at and choosing how you are seen. Through direct address, choreography, comedy and performance, the actors could play with the audience's gaze rather than simply becoming its object.
Sex and sexuality could therefore be funny, political, joyful and confrontational at the same time. The performers were not simply illustrating Aristophanes' joke — they were in control of it.
I was interested in the difference between being looked at and choosing how you are seen. Through direct address, choreography, comedy and performance, the actors could play with the audience's gaze rather than simply becoming its object.
Sex and sexuality could therefore be funny, political, joyful and confrontational at the same time. The performers were not simply illustrating Aristophanes' joke — they were in control of it.
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Comedy as a Weapon
Lysistrata is ridiculous. I didn't want to sanitise that.
We leaned into exaggeration, physical comedy, sexual humour and the absurdity of the premise, while allowing the politics underneath it to remain visible.
Comedy gave us a way to tackle the politics of the play without losing its sense of fun. The audience could laugh with the performers, while still being asked to question the ideas underneath the joke.
We leaned into exaggeration, physical comedy, sexual humour and the absurdity of the premise, while allowing the politics underneath it to remain visible.
Comedy gave us a way to tackle the politics of the play without losing its sense of fun. The audience could laugh with the performers, while still being asked to question the ideas underneath the joke.
Building the Ensemble
The production was built around the individuality of each performer. I didn’t want everyone to fit into one idea of femininity or sexuality; the burlesque form allowed each performer to find their own relationship with the audience and their own way of taking up space.
At the same time, they needed to feel like a collective. Movement, music and ensemble sequences brought the company together as a chorus, while still making space for each performer’s individual voice, body and identity.
At the same time, they needed to feel like a collective. Movement, music and ensemble sequences brought the company together as a chorus, while still making space for each performer’s individual voice, body and identity.
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No Fourth Wall
The audience relationship was fundamental to the production. Burlesque doesn't work if the performer pretends nobody is watching.
The actors could flirt with the audience, challenge them, recruit them and make them complicit in the joke. That direct relationship created a shared language between performer and spectator — one that could shift between pleasure, comedy and confrontation.
The actors could flirt with the audience, challenge them, recruit them and make them complicit in the joke. That direct relationship created a shared language between performer and spectator — one that could shift between pleasure, comedy and confrontation.
Reimagining a Classic
Lysistrata was an early exploration of something that has continued throughout my practice: taking a familiar classical text and asking what happens when we change who holds the power, how the audience encounters it, and what theatrical language we use to tell it.
Rather than preserving a classic because it is a classic, I'm interested in what it can do now — what can be pulled apart, reclaimed, played with and transformed for the people in the room today.
Rather than preserving a classic because it is a classic, I'm interested in what it can do now — what can be pulled apart, reclaimed, played with and transformed for the people in the room today.
Building the World
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Cast
Lysistrata: Stella Saint Calonice: Amanda Lundgren Myrrhine: Brittany Cope Lampito: Jenna FC Kitten: Amanda McKnight Cinesias: El Toro Magistrate: Jordan Shore Priapus: Timothy Ng |
Creative Team
Director and Adaptor: Kay Brattan Produced by: how.dare.collective and Rebecca Perry Lighting Design: Sebastian Marziali Props and Costume: Stevie Baker Stage Manager: Sinclair Gwilliams Choreography: Stella Kulagowski and Sebastian Marziali “Oh Queen of Song” Composer: David Kingsmill Photos by David Kingsmill and Sly Feiticeira |
Press + Recognition
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“An imaginative burlesque rendition of Lysistrata elicits constant cheers and scores of laughs.”
NOW MAGAZINE
“An imaginative burlesque rendition of Lysistrata elicits constant cheers and scores of laughs.”
NOW MAGAZINE
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“Between the slapstick and strip teases, the power of love, laughter, and freedom are fearlessly affirmed. This is, in all seriousness, the best burlesque I have seen in Toronto.”
Mooney on Theatre |
"Ultimately, this is a show with many assets, most of which are covered in glitter and gyrating an inch in front of you, but the greatest of all they’ve got to offer is heart."
Mooney on Theatre |
2017 MY ENTERTAINMENT WORLD AWARDS
BEST ENSEMBLE (SMALL) · NOMINEE
BEST ENSEMBLE (SMALL) · NOMINEE
