Aristophanes’ Lysistrata is funny, lusty, bawdy and marginally pornographic. It is a play that speaks about the irrational and generally, male, lust for war.

This lust is diverted back to its core source by Lysistrata when she leads the women of Sparta and Athens to deny their men sex.

Suzie Dee, ex-Melbourne Workers Theatre and winner of the Ewa Czajor Memorial Award has been invited to direct Monash University’s Graduate Theatre Ensemble’s Lysistrata.

She is convinced of the need to pay homage to the bawdiness of Aristophanes’ work: “I am trying to embrace the satirical nature of the piece and really we do not get to see big phalluses on stage. We need more phalluses, it’s mid winter 2009!” says Dee to Neos Kosmos English Edition (NKEE).

“We have become too safe in our theatre traditions, here where we are sitting comfortable Australia, a lot of our plays about domesticity and about relationships, and I admire that the Greeks back then were not afraid to attack big issues,” emphasises Dee.

Dee wants to provide the work a “universal context” yet letting breath enough to be sufficiently “bawdy and outrageous”.

“I am hoping that we can make people laugh and at the same time reveal the serious questions underneath the heart of the play.”

In Lysistrata, the women deny sex until their men see sense, reconcile and cease the catastrophic bloodshed.

Dee knows who’s at fault, “War still exists and it’s predominantly a male domain. Lysistrata is very cunning, the idea of using your sexuality as a tool is smart.”
“Men will listen to what you have to say: She (Lysistrata)knows its an interesting bargaining tool; it is upping the anti; it is amazing that Aristophanes wrote that in 416BCE.”

Aristophanes’ politically savage play was written during the 20 year conflict between Sparta and Athens – a war that eventually brought both states to a collapse.
“It has a strong political bite and has relevance to today, as well as being incredibly funny,” says Dee to NKEE.

“Aristophanes wrote it as satire. We started being very tame and then we decided, ‘no, we need to be true to the nature of the play’.”

Suzie Dee, one of Australia’s theatre stalwarts, is critical of Australian theatre’s nervousness with sex, “We are too timid in theatre here; I worked in Europe and it was very different. Nudity was part of the course, people did work in sand; it was all out there.”

The future of theatre at Monash is in good hands according to Dee, “We will have great talent, this is a small ensemble and it’s a fantastic course for graduates.”

Monash University Academy of Performing Arts’  Lysistrata, August 13-15 Alexander Theatre, Building, Clayton. For more information call (03) 9905 1111 or email boxoffice@adm.monash.edu.au