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Playbill and Promotion Lysistrata (2014)

Spring 4-4-2014

Lysistrata Playbill

Providence College

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Department of Theatre, Dance & Film presents

LYSISTRATA a musical version adaptation by Ellen McLaughlin inspired by the play by Aristophanes

music and lyrics by Keith Munslow

DIRECTED BY Mary G. Farrell

MUSICAL DIRECTOR SCENIC DESIGNER Keith Munslow Kathryn Kawecki

COSTUME DESIGNER LIGHTING DESIGNER Amanda Downing Carney Tim Cryan

CHOREOGRAPHER VOCAL COACH Katrina Pavao ‘16 Renina Flores

Angell Blackfriars Theatre 4-6 April and 11-13 April 2014

The filming, digital recording, or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

Lysistrata is presented through special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. 450 Seventh Ave, Suite 809 New York, NY 10123 Cast

ATHENIAN CHORUS LEADERS Aubrey Dion, Marisa Urgo Athenian women LYSISTRATA an Athenian woman Katrina Pavao CALONICE her neighbor Katcy Stephan MYRRHINE woman from Anagyra Grace Curley LAMPITO woman from Sparta Joey Macari DIPSAS woman from Corinth Lindsay Gilbert ISMENIA woman from Boetia Courteney Olenzak GEEZERS men from Athens Daniel Caplin, Brendan Lynch, Ben Williams OLD WOMEN, women from Athens Aubrey Dion, Lindsay Gilbert, Joey Macari MAGISTRATE head man in Athens Brian Kozak at the moment BELPHRAGIA woman from Athens Joey Macari FISHERWOMAN woman from Athens Courteney Olenzak CINESIAS man from Athens Daniel Caplin SPARTAN ENVOY Brendan Lynch SPARTAN DELEGATE Konner Jebb

TIME: 411 BCE (2014)

PLACE: An affluent neighborhood in Athens (Providence, RI)

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Please note that strobe lights will be used in this production.

The play runs approximately 80 minutes and is performed without intermission. musical numbers

OPENING/PROTEST MARCH The Band GREEK CHORUS VAMP The Band YOU MUST Lysistrata & the Women of Greece ATHENIAN WALTZ The Band THE LIBIDO (IS THE LAST THING TO GO) Geezers, Old Women of Athens MATTERS Lysistrata, Magistrate ATHENIAN WALTZ (REPRISE) The Band GIVE IT UP Cinesias, Chorus DOIN’ IT AT HOME Lysistrata, Chorus

Band Members

PIANO, ACCORDION John Juxo

ACOUSTIC BASS Bryan Rizzuto

DRUMS, PERCUSSION Randy Cloutier

VIOLIN Ilana Katz Production Staff

STAGE MANAGER BOX OFFICE MANAGERS Veronica Murphy Casey Gilmond Alexandra Chasse DIRECTOR’S ASSISTANT/ ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER BOX OFFICE & PUBLICITY Toni Ramos Logan Bruneau Alexandra Chasse PUPPETS CREATED BY Casey Gilmond Stuart Wilson Hayley McGuirl Amanda Talbot PROPERTIES PROCUREMENT Mary Jo Hannigan HOUSE MANAGERS Hayley McGuirl LIGHT BOARD OPERATOR Amanda Talbot Alison Simone COSTUME SHOP CREW FOLLOW SPOT OPERATORS Valerie Chase Julia Bianculli Jess DiPietro Manuela Teixeira Stacie Krawiecki Emily Zalis Marie-Florence Koikou Maggie Oaks SOUND BOARD OPERATOR Rebecca Petrocelli Ryan Fink SCENE SHOP CREW WARDROBE RUNNING CREW Michael Cirrotti Manuela Teixeira Ryan Fink Emily Zalis Mark Folan Garvin Gabelus STAGE HANDS Erin Lasher Julia Bianculli Maria Munar Logan Serabian Victor Neirinckx Alison Simone ARCHIVE PHOTOGRAPHY Marisa Urgo Gabrielle Marks POSTER PRESS PHOTOGRAPHY image and concept Logan Bruneau courtesy of Linda Bell Auburn University USHERS Department of Theatre The Friars Club Director’s Notes

THE 4-1-1 ON CONFLICTS SINCE 411 Alexander’s macedonian conquests punic wars WAR OF THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE war of the second triumvirate expansion of the roman empire byzantine empire wars visigoth invasion of gaul invasion of atilla the hun MUSLIM CONQUEST OF MECCA muslim invasions conquests of charlemagne CRUSADES mongol Wars conquests of the ottomAn empire HUNDRED YEARS WAR war of the roses spanish-muslim wars spanish conquest of mexico mogul-afghan war thirty years’ war jacobite rebellion war of spanish succession french and indian war seven years’ war king phIllip’s war AMERICAN

REVOLUTION FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS napoleonic wars war of 1812 first afghan-brItish war AMERICAN CIVIL WAR franco-prussian war second afGhan-brItish war spanish- american war WORLD WAR I russian revolution WORLD WAR II french indochina war arab-israeli wAr korean war VIETNAM WAR iraq-iran war Persian gulf war CONFLICTS IN israel pAkistan iraq iran syria Libya Conflicts in tunisia yemen ukraine sudan uganda Afghanistan chechnya egypt Lysistrata: Anti-War, Satiric, and Bawdy

Occasion: Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata in 411 B.C.E. (all further dates also refer to B.C.E.) in response to the devastating defeat of the massive Athenian expedition to Syracuse in Sicily in 413. The planning for this attack was a debacle from the time that it was first pushed through the Athenian Assembly in 415 by the flashy Alcibiades, Pericles’ ward and Socrates’ pupil, who later became a serial turncoat. The Peloponnesian War historian, Thucydides, vividly recounted the nightmarish results of this campaign. The Athenian army, with its trireme transportation sunk in Syracuse’s harbor, retreated hastily on foot without burying its dead, a most shocking sacrilege, and furthermore, were forced to abandon sick or wounded, pleading relatives and friends. On a following day, the thirsting marchers broke rank to rush into a river, where they trampled one another or were butchered by awaiting Spartan and Syracusan soldiers. Survivors kept on drinking the river water, now fouled by mud and polluted with comrades’ blood. Those who lived to be captured were squashed together in abandoned quarries with little food and less space, especially when the multiplying corpses were stacked up next to them. From these events, there were no known survivors.

“Old” Comedy: With such devastation, is it any wonder that two years later in Lysistrata Aristophanes satirized the martial attitudes that led to this debacle? Unlike romantic comedy, in which lovers overcome obstacles to reunite in festivity, “Old” Comedy employed imagination, not sermonizing, to attack the vice and folly of contemporary Athens. As satirist, Aristophanes offered a strange mixture of scatology (flatulence, urination, defecation) and lust along with a highly conservative political outlook, favoring oligarchy over Athenian democracy. His vulgarity in bathroom and bedroom references typifies later satirists as well, including the great Moliere and Swift. Though accused of dereliction or even of psychopathy, they deliberately displayed the animal side of humanity for an arguably moral purpose – to ridicule false pretenses to great knowledge, courage, or spiritual purity (think Tartuffe). Such pride and pretentiousness became the inevitable target of satiric attack.

Obsessions of Greek Sexuality: Besides the vulgarity endemic to “Old” Comedy, another factor which probably influenced its graphic bawdiness was the ancient Greek tendency to flaunt male sexual potency. In creation mythology, Zeus, the sky god’s “rain is male semen and the receiving earth is the female womb” (Barry B. Powell, Classical Myth). Thus, the male penetrator becomes the author of fertility. Another patriarchal practice in Athens was the parading of large wooden phalluses in the religious procession honoring Dionysus, preceding the dramatic festival of three day tragic and one day comic competitions. In his account of ancient Greek culture, Thomas Cahill explores the prevalence of Greek male nudity (contrary to surrounding civilizations) both in life, with naked workouts of male athletes, and in art, with its many unclothed statues of young men. Unlike these kouros figures, female maiden statues were clothed. He explains this distinction by contending that the prevailing patriarchal outlook assumed that young men’s nude bodies were the perfection of nature. Finally, from a less idealized perspective, male costuming in Greek comedy included padded tights featuring prominent phalluses.

Lysistrata: In the play, prominent male arousal relates to Aristophanes’ main target of satiric attack – male devotion to military glory, the root cause of disastrous policies, especially the decision to attack Syracuse. Part of Lysistrata’s peace plan is for Athenian women to occupy the Acropolis to bar men from the Parthenon housed treasury, needed for military expeditions. The male chorus’ response is to threaten the women’s chorus with intimidation and violence involving logs and fire. But when the women trade insults and will not back down, the bullying older men look foolish. Later, as the frustration from the sex strike increases, male arousal, beginning with Myrrhine’s classic teasing of Cinesias, and spreading to both Spartans and Athenians, burgeons. While the males have claimed that their highest priority is gaining glory from conquest, their own bodies testify that a more basic need, sexual release, predominates. In the midst of this ludicrous chaos, only one voice of common sense and morality, that of Lysistrata, exists. She counters the Magistrate’s claim that only battlefield veterans should give policy advice by pointing out that only women give birth to the many sons who die in battle. At the play’s conclusion, she highlights past occasions when Spartans and Athenians have united to ward off common enemies, rather than fighting against each other. Although the Athenians and Spartans end up signing, in this fantasy, a peace treaty (as they had twice before in recent history), they had not listened to a word of Lysistrata’s wise advice. Typifying the satirist’s vision that foolish characters are incapable of changing, they have been lusting after prime anatomical segments of the voluptuous Peace goddess. Although Lysistrata’s wisdom is lost on them, Aristophanes, through her, is trying to persuade Athenian audience members. It is a sobering realization that not even enough of them listened. Athens and Sparta kept on pulverizing each other for another seven years. The Peloponnesian War ended in 404 only because Sparta and her allies forced the bankrupt and starving Athenians to surrender.

John Hennedy

John Hennedy, Professor Emeritus, is currently teaching “Greek Drama” as part of the Development of Western Civilization Honors Program. He previously taught in both the English and DWC departments. Playwright biographies

Ellen McLaughlin is an American playwright and actor. Her plays include Days and Nights Within, A Narrow Bed, Infinity’s House, Iphigenia and Other Daughters, Tongue of a Bird, The Trojan Women, Helen, The Persians, Oedipus, Ajax in Iraq, Kissing the Floor, Septimus and Clarissa, and Penelope. McLaughlin’s adaptations make the Greek classics relevant to today. Also an actor, she is most well known for having originated the part of the Angel in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, appearing in every U.S. production from its earliest workshops to its Broadway run.

Aristophanes, born c. 450 BC – died c. 388 BC, is considered the father of ancient Greek comedy, and is said to have recreated the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His plays are characterized by fantasy, satire, humor, choral songs, and political criticism and have been produced on the 20th-century stage in numerous translations. Other plays by Aristophanes include The Knights, The Clouds, The Wasps, Peace, The Birds, Lysistrata, The Frogs, and Wealth.

Lysistrata, one of the oldest extant plays in the literature of the western world, was not translated into English until 1912; the translator is unknown, but rumored to be Oscar Wilde. Its subject matter has always been controversial, and it has regularly been a point of reference for social movements desiring change. Here at Providence College, the play is often included as part of the four-semester required course, Development of Western Civilization, a touchstone of teaching at PC for more than 40 years.

guest & resident artist biographies

TIM CRYAN (Lighting Design) Previous collaborations with Providence College include: The Cripple of Inishmaan, Curtains, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds, Gypsy, The Good Doctor, Hedda Gabler, Little Women, Poor Murderer, Twelfth Night, Urinetown, Waiting for Lefty, and the Fall 2009 – 2013 Dance Concerts. Additional recent design credits include Fusionworks Dance Company (dir. Deb Meunier), Fiasco Theatre Co.’s Into the Woods (McCarter Theatre), Cymbeline (TFANA/ Barrow St Theatre), Twelfth Night (Access Theatre), Measure for Measure (New Victory Theatre), & Two Gentlemen of Verona (Folger Theatre). In addition to his work as a designer, Tim is also the production manager for The Berkshire Fringe, and an adjunct faculty member of the Dance Department at Long Island University. http://timcryan.net AMANDA DOWNING CARNEY (Costume Design) holds a BFA in Technical Theatre with a Concentration in Costume Design from the University of Rhode Island. After graduation she toured nationally and internationally as Wardrobe Supervisor with Phoenix Entertainment’s FAME: the Musical (US, Canada and Korea), Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and Will Rogers Follies. Now off the road, she has worked at such local theatres as Trinity Repertory Co. (Costume Director 09-12), the Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre (Good People, A Number & Far Away, The Real Thing, After the Revolution, boom, A Child’s Christmas in Wales), Theatre-by-the-Sea (Costume Shop Manager 07-08), Perishable Theatre (A Lie of the Mind), Contemporary Theatre Co. (Assassins) and the Wilbury Group (Body Awareness, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?). She has also designed at URI (Company, Boy Gets Girl) and Providence College (Curtains, Lend Me A Tenor). She is currently a freelance costume designer and full-time mom to her two young boys.

MARY G. FARRELL (Director) is a professor in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Film, as well as a mainstage director who has directed over 35 productions for the college. She is also head of the TDF Acting program. She received research grants to travel to Russia in preparation for her adaptation of Chekov’s Seagull, which she directed for the old Blackfriars Theatre in Harkins Hall. She also collaborated on an adaptation of James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man with PC Theatre alum, Aidan Connolly, which she then directed at the Irish Arts Center in New York City. Past Providence College productions include, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Cabaret, Into the Woods, Blood Brothers, Funny Girl, Urinetown, Never the Sinner, Waiting for Godot, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Harvey, Hedda Gabler, and The Cripple of Inishmaan. Off campus, her work has been seen locally at the former Alias Stage (now the Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre), Newgate Theatre, The Rhode Island Philharmonic and 1st STAGE PROVIDENCE, a Theatre for Young Audiences, which she co-founded with Nancy Mundy. She has been an active member of the American College Theatre Festival and was invited to direct for their student playwriting festival held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Professor Farrell is currently developing a one-person show based on the life of Mary Anning, the early 19th century British fossil collector and paleontologist.

RENINA FLORES (Vocal Coach) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Film at Providence College. A graduate of Guildford School of Acting in Surrey, England, she has worked in theatre, voiceovers and television. Her work includes projects for Discovery and the Learning Channel, Studio Theatre and Studio Theatre, Secondstage in Washington, DC, Reflexive Entertainment, and George Washington University Television. In Richmond, VA she was the dialect coach for Lord of the Flies for Henley Street Theatre, My Fair Lady for Barksdale Theatre (co-dialect coach), and Suddenly Last Summer for Richmond Triangle Players. Her vocal coaching for past Providence College productions includes These Shining Lives, The Good Doctor, Curtains, The Illusion, and Twelfth Night. She has also been the vocal coach for productions at Virginia Commonwealth University.

KATHRYN KAWECKI (Scenic Design) is an artist, set and costume designer based in Baltimore, MD. She previously designed Providence College’s sets for Lend Me a Tenor, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Hedda Gabler, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball and costumes for Poor Murderer. New England scene designs include: Avenue Q (Lyric Stage); RENT and dollHouse (New Rep); Proof (Seacoast Rep); My Fair Lady (2010 IRNE Nomination), and Romeo & Juliet (Stoneham Theatre); Largo Desolato (A.R.T./MXAT Institute); Anna Bella Eema (Perishable Theatre); Hansel and Gretel (Boston Lyric Opera Tour). Regional scene designs include: Race and Ages of the Moon (Contemporary American Theatre Festival); Anna in the Tropics (Capital Rep); No Child… & Bad Dates (Hangar Theatre); Topdog/ Underdog (Sacramento Theatre Co); La Traviata (Emerald City Opera). Costume designs include: As You Like It, Chorus Line, and The Importance of Being Earnest (Gettysburg College); A Midsummer Night’s Dream and columbinus (Salve Regina University); Billy Witch (Northeastern Theatre); Pippin and Pirates of Penzance (Groton School). Honors: 2009 NEA/TCG Career Development Program finalist; USITT’s 2007 Young Designer Award for Scene Design. In addition to teaching costume design at Gettysburg College, she also guest designs for various academic theatre departments and professional companies, including upcoming projects with UMBC and Ballybeg Theatre Company. www.kawecki-art.com

KEITH MUNSLOW (Composer, Music Director) is an award-winning musician and songwriter from Providence, RI. He is the pianist/frontman for Superchief Trio, a New Orleans style blues and swing band, and also the director of the Empire Revue, a monthly sketch and variety show based at Providence art enclave AS220. For ten years Keith was a principal performer with and musical director for Big Nazo puppets, and currently teaches Musical Improv at the Providence Improv Guild. Keith is best known for his stories and songs for children, which have earned Parents Choice, Booklist, and Nappa Gold awards, and can be heard on Sirius XM Kid’s Place Live. Keith would like to thank his wife Melissa and son Luc for their love and support. Special thanks also to the band for their hard work and creativity. special thanks Caolan Madden Rory Madden and Jane Madden Hughes John Hennedy Providence College Professor Emeritus Linda Bell Auburn University Department of Theatre thank you to the following businesses for your publicity

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Department of Theatre, Dance and Film

Professor / Chair, Dept. of Theatre, Dance & Film ...... Wendy Oliver Associate Professor/Managing Director, Theatre ...... John Garrity Professors...... David Costa-Cabral, Mary G. Farrell Rev. Kenneth Gumbert, O.P. Assistant Professor...... Renina Flores Special Lecturers-Theatre ...... Kate Ambrosini, Jennifer Madden Elaine Perry, Dave Rabinow Special Lecturers-Dance...... Betsy Miller, Bill Wilson Special Lecturer-Film ...... Ben Sweeney Technical Director ...... George Marks Assistant Technical Director/Master Electrician...... Spencer Crockett Costume Shop Supervisor...... Maxine Wheelock Administrative Assistant...... Ali Boyd Production Office Assistant...... Susan Werner Play a major role in a student’s life.

We have a goal to make all of our scholarships full-tuition scholarships. Help us reach that goal for a talented student you have seen on stage by directing your tax-deductible donation to the theatre scholarship of your choice.

Blackfriars Guild Scholarship John Bowab Scholarship John Patrick Garrity Jr. ‘73 Scholarship John F. Leonard Scholarship Now, more than ever, our students need you. Department of Theatre, Dance & Film, Providence College One Cunningham Square, Providence, RI 02918 Donations to scholarship funds are fully tax deductible.

We would like to acknowledge the recipients of the 2013-2014 Theatre, Dance & Film Scholarships.

Blackfriars Guild Scholarship Grace Curley ‘14. Katcy Stephan ‘16, Marisa Urgo ‘14

John Patrick Garrity Jr. ‘73 Scholarship Alison Simone ‘16

John F. Leonard Scholarship Daniel Caplin ‘14

John Bowab Scholarship Veronica Murphy ‘17, Katrina Pavao ‘16, Logan Serabian ‘16, Katcy Stephan ‘16 PHOTOGRAPHY OR VIDEO RECORDING of any kind is strictly prohibited during performances in the Angell Blackfriars Theatre.

PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELLULAR PHONES AND PAGERS before the performance begins.

TEXT MESSAGING IS NOT PERMITTED IN THE THEATRE during the performance out of respect to the performers and as a courtesy to those seated next to you.

ACCESSIBLE RESTROOMS are located at either end of the main lobby. THE MAIN RESTROOMS are located down the stairs in the lower lobby.

TICKETS FOR EVENTS in the Angell Blackfriars Theatre and Bowab Studio Theatre may be purchased online or over the telephone by Visa or Mastercard. If you are on our mailing list, information will be sent to you prior to all mainstage events. To be placed on our mailing list or to purchase tickets, call 401-865-2218 or visit www.providence.edu/theatre.

THE BOX OFFICE AT THE SMITH CENTER FOR THE ARTS is open for walk-up sales 1:30-5:00 PM Monday through Friday, and one hour prior to curtain on all performance days. Cash, check, or credit cards are accepted for walk-up sales.

ALL TICKET SALES ARE FINAL AND CANNOT BE REFUNDED. You may exchange tickets for a different performance of the same production by returning your tickets to the Box Office up to 24 hours prior to curtain, subject to seat availablity.

BOX OFFICE: 401-865-2218 www.providence.edu/theatre