2003.02.26: February 26, 2003: Headlines: COS - Guyana: Theatre: Acting: Lansing City Pulse: Guyana RPCV Aryn Bartley staging the “Lysistrata Project: A Theatrical Act of Dissent”
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2003.02.26: February 26, 2003: Headlines: COS - Guyana: Theatre: Acting: Lansing City Pulse: Guyana RPCV Aryn Bartley staging the “Lysistrata Project: A Theatrical Act of Dissent”
Guyana RPCV Aryn Bartley staging the “Lysistrata Project: A Theatrical Act of Dissent”
The Lansing project was born when Aryn Bartley, 25, just recently home from the Peace Corps in South America and now working as an education aide at the Turner Dodge House, received an e-mail about it from best friend Faith Helma in Portland, Ore.. about two weeks ago. The e-mail fired Bartley’s passion for activism and theater. Things have been on a fast track ever since. Bartley did some checking and found that no reading was planned for Lansing. She sent out e-mails, talked to current friends, people at work, old friends from high school. And her mother, Lynn Bartley, assistant principal at Haslett High School, was a big help. She’s even taking part in the reading.
Guyana RPCV Aryn Bartley staging the “Lysistrata Project: A Theatrical Act of Dissent”
Using the magic and power of theater for peace
By UTE VON DER HEYDEN
“The theater, with its immediacy of flesh talking to flesh, of actors sharing space, time and breath with a living audience, has an emotional imperative in the aftermath . . . playwrights have an ethical legacy to follow the charge — to ask questions during times of crisis.”
Playwright Paula Vogel as quoted in The New York Times after 9/11
Sixteen Lansing area actors and activists will join hundreds of others around the globe Monday, March 3, in a worldwide theater event for peace. All part of the “Lysistrata Project: A Theatrical Act of Dissent,” they will present a staged reading of “Lysistrata,” Aristophanes’ ancient Greek anti-war comedy, as part of a worldwide protest against the Bush administration’s move toward war in Iraq.
Elaine Yaw/City Pulse
Rehearsing for the reading of ‘Lysistrata’ in Lansing March 5 are, from left, Lea Shelton, Nikki Motson, Katy Donaldson, Stephanie Fizzell and Aryn Bartley.
‘Lysistrata’
Staged reading at 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 3. Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St., Lansing Old Town. Admission free, but donation suggested. For more information, go to www.pecosdesign.com/lys.
To date, 667 play readings in 39 countries have been scheduled. In Michigan alone, there will be 10 performances. The Lansing reading will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St., in Lansing’s Old Town. Admission is free, but a donation of $5 or $10 is suggested. Proceeds will go to the Peace Education Center and MSU Students for Peace and Justice.
“Lysistrata” tells the story of women from opposing states who unite to stop a war. Distraught over losing their families to pointless battles, the women take over the national treasury and refuse to sleep with their husbands until the men agree to lay down their swords.
Fast-forward 2,400 years: Swords are now weapons of mass destruction. Faced with the prospect of massive loss of human life — both Iraqi and American — Lysistrata Project participants worldwide say they are using a new method to add their voices to the mounting clamor of global anti-war protests: By performing this raunchy tale, they want to add both humor and hope to a frightening situation.
The Lysistrata Project was conceived in early January by New York actors Kathryn Blume and Sharron Bower. “Before we started Lysistrata Project, we could do nothing but sit and watch in horror as the Bush administration drove us toward a unilateral attack on Iraq,” said co-founder Blume. “So we e-mailed all our friends and put up a Web site. The response has been enormous.”
“Many people have e-mailed us to say how distraught they feel about the war,” said co-founder Bower. “Now they feel empowered to do something, and foster dialogue in their own communities.”
The Lansing project was born when Aryn Bartley, 25, just recently home from the Peace Corps in South America and now working as an education aide at the Turner Dodge House, received an e-mail about it from best friend Faith Helma in Portland, Ore.. about two weeks ago. The e-mail fired Bartley’s passion for activism and theater. Things have been on a fast track ever since. Bartley did some checking and found that no reading was planned for Lansing. She sent out e-mails, talked to current friends, people at work, old friends from high school. And her mother, Lynn Bartley, assistant principal at Haslett High School, was a big help. She’s even taking part in the reading.
People responded immediately. Within a week she had a cast. Fliers were produced; a performance space was found. Creole Gallery owner Robert Busby is donating the space. “Be sure to mention that,” Bartley said. “He was so cooperative and willing to do something on short notice. We are so grateful to him.” And now rehearsals are underway.
Aryn Bartley, organizer and artistic director, of Lansing’s “Lysistrata” staged reading March 3
Bartley said that March 3 is not primarily about performing a play.” The main point of this is to participate in the protest, to speak out and have fun with it.”
Like the two New York actresses who started the project, Bartley considers herself to be patriotic, “but patriotism should not be separated from being a citizen of the world,” she said. “This is about democracy and being able to speak out and also be listened to. And this is a happy, good, funny way to express how we’re feeling.”
Does she think she will be listened to? Will this have an impact on Bush? “On Bush? I think it will have an effect on people. If it helps us to be empowered, then that’s important,” she said.
In addition to readings in international cities like London, Berlin, Paris, Beirut, and Jerusalem, groups from nearly every state in the nation are hosting events as part of the protest. The Lansing group joins others in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Ypsilanti.
In New York, dozens of teams of actors and directors will read Lysistrata in public spaces throughout the day. The Lysistrata Project will then present an all-star reading of the play that evening. Mercedes Ruehl will read the title role, and it’s planned that she will be joined by F. Murray Abraham, Kevin Bacon, Peter Boyle, Kathleen Chalfont, Delphi Harrington, Kyra Sedgwick, Lori Singer, and David Strathairn.
On the West Coast, Julie Christie, Alfre Woodard, Christine Lahti, Mary McDonnell, Barbara Williams, Eric Stoltz, Ed Begley Jr. and Jose Zuniga will appear in a reading at The Los Angeles Filmmaker Cooperative’s Powerhouse Cultural Space. “At least for the record of history we have to let it be known that millions and millions opposed this war,” said Christie in a national news release.
Taking part in the Lansing staged reading are Katy Donaldson, Nikki Motson, Stephanie Fizzell, Lea Shelton, Audra Post, Deb Radziewicz, Mary Myers, Aryn Bartley, Lynn Bartley, Paula Scrimge, Lindsey Motson, Daryl Thompson, Peter Richards, Chris Fizzell, Alan Labovitz, and Gene Hayhoe. Aryn Bartley is also the artistic director.
The reading at the Creole Gallery will include live music and a discussion afterwards. For more information go to www.pecosdesign.com/lys.
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Story Source: Lansing City Pulse
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Guyana; Theatre; Acting
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