Lysistrata, a Greek Play by Aristophanes: Still Relevant Today?

The main objective of any theatre producer is to put on a successful show. The ancient Greek play Lysistrata, written by Aristophanes, has the potential to be made into a very successful modern-day comedy. Critics argue that Lysistrata is no longer relevant to modern society, and that the language and actions of the play are too raunchy for the taste of modern theatre audiences. However, there are many examples of other forms of comedy with this type of humor being both successful and relevant in today's society which leaves no doubt that a modern production of Lysistrata would provide a theatre company with great success.

The Greek play Lysistrata, written by Aristophanes over 1500 years ago, is built around the idea that the women of Greece go on a "sex strike" until their husbands stop waging war. The women at first do not want to give up sex, but are eventually persuaded to deprive their men of their carnal desires. All the men of Greece are upset by this and try to get their women to submit to them, as was customary at the time of the producing of this play. However, the women hold strong to their words and the men eventually succumb to the wishes of the females. The play is filled with sexual innuendo and racy comments which people still find funny, as well as several overlying themes that are relevant to our current society.

Some critics argue that Lysistrata would not be considered "funny" in modern society. A review of a modern production of Lysistrat claims that "the play's bawdry now feels dated, obvious, and not a little sexist" (Sofer). I have to disagree. The comic elements found within the play contain many popular elements of comedy that are still used in many modern comedy situations. Lysistrata is filled with sexual innuendo and overall raunchy language. The play consists of a surplus of sexual jokes, and physical humor describing a certain male organ in great detail. This type of humor is funny even on paper, so when acted out in a play-like form, it becomes all the more funny. For example, the lines "Let's strip down then and get to work. Those fields need ploughing!" is referring to the act of sexual intercourse. On paper it is very comical, but when accompanied with real life acting, the line can come to life and become funnier.

Physical comedy can be found throughout Lysistrata. Many references are made towards the males all having erections. There are several puns throughout the play giving the erection a different meaning such as a "Spartan message stick". Erections are funny for several reasons, one being the awkwardness of them in public. Many spoofs and stand up comedians use the erection to generate a laugh. Lysistrata is full of erections, pun intended, and when acted on a live stage, the presence of an erection by an actor would undoubtedly be funny and result in much laughter. This example shows that people still find many of the comedic elements of Lysistrata to be funny today.

Another argument against a present day version of Lysistrata is that the play is no longer relevant to society. This couldn't be further from the truth. The main theme of the play is war, and we are currently involved in a war. Looking deeper, the women in Lysistrata felt the war was silly and should end. Likewise, many people in American today feel the war in the Middle East is ridiculous. The similarities between the play and present day are too obvious to overlook. A modern production of Lysistrata would be very relevant considering our current situation in Iraq. There have been many comedy productions about this controversial war, so a modernized Lysistrata would be very appropriate. For example, after 9/11, many satirical websites were created to poke fun at Osama Bin Laden, Afghanistan, Iraq, and President George Bush. One of the most popular examples of this type of war satire is the flash animation is "It's Time to Bomb Saddam" which features George Bush and Colin Powell singing and dancing to a catchy tune while an animated Saddam Hussein avoids cartoonish explosions. This animation is still being cycled throughout the internet over 8 years after 9/11. This proves that humor based on war is a popular and successful form of modern comedy. (ebaumsworld.com)

One example of a modern day comedy that pokes fun at the war is Lil' Bush, a TV show featured on Comedy Central. This animated satire pokes fun at George Bush and has a big focus on the war in Iraq. People are willing to laugh at war if it is portrayed in the comedic light, and Lil' Bush does just that. War is something that people don't usually laugh about, however when presented correctly, it can be a very entertaining and funny topic (Lowry).

On the surface level, Lysistrata focuses its comedic roots towards sex. Sex is a universal phenomena and is found within comedies all around the world. Much of today's humor is in some way tied into sex, or sexual situations. A modernized production of Lysistrata would be able to capture the sexual innuendos from the original play's text, and turn them into funny, modern situations. People would be coming to the play expecting to laugh, and this mindset would make any comedic scenes all the more funny.

Another argument against a modern day production of Lysistrata is that the language and actions of the characters are too crude. This is a ridiculous statement when looking at other entertainment options available today. It is a rarity to find a comedy these days that does not include either vulgar language or some sort of sexual innuendo, and is usually a combination of the two.

The movie Jackass: The Movie, filmed in 2002, depicts several young men performing outrageous and often dangerous stunts and activities. The movie is based on an MTV television series sharing the same name. Throughout the movie, these men partake in ridiculous activities such as the "Butt X-Ray" in which a toy car was placed inside of a condom and inserted into the rectum of one of the actors, and then an x-ray was taken which showed the car inside his rectum. This humor is about as crude as you can get, however Jackass: The Movie was very successful in theaters and in post-theater sales netting $96,000,000 in home video revenue through July of 2003 (the-numbers.com). The film contains a lot of profanity and even nudity, most of which is un-censored. This adds to the comedic element of the film. Jackass: The Movie is an excellent example of a production that finds great success using crude, sexual, and downright raunchy forms of comedy.

When looked at below the surface level, Jackass: The Movie, and a modern production of Lysistrata could be very similar. Jackass: The Movie is based on the TV show Jackass, which was very popular for several years on the MTV network. The producers of Jackass: The Movie took the success of the TV show and built an even more successful movie production out of it. The same can be had for Lysistrata. A once, and still successful play can easily be modernized and turned into a successful production.

Jackass: The Movie is only one example of many raunchy, modern comedies. Cable TV is full of raunchy comedy which can be considered far more inappropriate than what is found in Lysistrata. It may be true that in the 1950s, this play would be considered too raunchy for society, however it is the 2000's and it has been proven over and over again through various raunchy comedies that they can be successful, and Lysistrata is no exception. People want raunchy comedies these days. Many productions such as Jackass: The Movie have pushed comedy to its limit, only to find that there really is no limit. People adapt to what is produced, and a modern production of Lysistrata would be another successful comedy that people would find funny and relevant to society.

Sources:

"It's Time to Bomb Saddam". eBaum's World. eBaum's World Inc. .

"Jackass: The Movie". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. .

Lowry, Brian. "Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States". Variety. . 02 Dec. 2009.