The AUMnibus

Actress Phadra Foster and director Niel Seibel rehearse for next months performances. Photo by Tony Heath. "Lysistrata" to hit AUM stage early November

Ian MacIssac/ Assistant Editor

Written by the Greek master of Old Comedy, "Lysistrata" details the protest of numerous young women in ancient Greece who attempt to end the Peloponnesian War by withholding sex from their warrior husbands, hoping that their longing for intimacy will force them to stop fighting.

However, AUM’s visionary director, Neil Seibel, has updated the play, setting his version in 1969, during the height of the Vietnam War, instead of in the fifth century. The AUMnibus sat down to talk with Seibel during rehearsals Monday night. “I wanted to bring it closer to something the students could relate to, something they were familiar with,” he said.

On the surface, "Lysistrata" seems like a strange pick for AUM; most of the plays our theatre produces are more modern dramas, such as "Of Mice and Men" and "Death of a Salesman," and so an ancient Greek comedy by a writer so ancient that few of his texts remain is a bit of an outlier. Why did AUM pick "Lysistrata?" “I wanted to change the game up a little bit, and give the students something they would be a little less familiar with,” Seibel said.

“Also, it was just practical; Lysistrata is heavy on female characters, and we have more females compared to males than ever before here at AUM. So, I wanted to pick something that wouldn’t force me to be super-competitive when it came to who got what role. We have a great ensemble cast with this play.”

According to Seibel, practices have been going very well, with few hitches, and the actors are steadily improving. The set is complete: an ancient Greek acropolis, decorated in tye-dye and peace signs, with the floor of the stage a swirl of bright, happy colors with a yin-yang in the middle.

“I wanted to bring a mix of the original play, with the Acropolis, as well as a dose of the sixties, with the tye-dye and the peace signs, and really just see if I could blend them together well, and I think I did," he said.

"Lysistrata’s" opening night is Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Other performances include:

Friday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

 Saturday, Nov 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m