Monday, March 03, 2003

"All we are saying is give sex a chance" I hope many of you had a chance to go to one of the Lysistrata readings tonight.  I went to a reading at the Mass. College of Art, put together by a group of women actors from Boston.  The play ended with everyone on stage singing "All we are saying is give sex a chance". The reading was great.  Sophie Parker, a Boston actor who directed this production, used a modern version of the script.  The basic story was that women took over Washington DC, including the Senate and the treasury, to prevent the men from spending more money for war.  The women, after much struggle, agreed to withhold sex until the men, who were off fighting, agreed to make peace. There were at least six or seven other readings in the Boston area, and over 1000 world wide.  This was attended by about 75 to 100 people, and raised several hundred dollars for the Boston area united for justice and peace organization. The idea of the artists, and of the play itself, was that individual people could make a difference.  This idea, as it takes hold, is as revolutionary as Aristophanes' play about turning things upside down in Athens by giving power to women. The idea of individuals making a difference is anathama to the present power structure.  George Bush is much more comfortable using democracy as a platitude, while relying on dictators and repression to secure what he wants in the world.  It was a joy to see Turkey's parliment stand up to the bullying and bribery.  In this case, a number of individual legislators made a real difference. The effect is electrifying--each act of resistance to war magnifies and amplifies more opposition.  At another cultural review in Arlington, Ma on Saturday night, the house erupted in cheering when it was announced from the stage that Turkey had rejected U.S. troops. The sense of amplification, of individual action, of common purpose is all around us.  Another friend told of going to the dentist this week, and when the hygenist learned he had been at the march in New York, her reaction was "thank you, thank you for doing this."  By acting, he spoke for her as well.  Lysistrata was great not just because it is about sex, and sexual expression is as much part of our nature as creativity and freedom, but because it is ultimately about consent, and turning power upside down. We are all the women of Athens these days (if Lysistrata took place in Athens), supposedly powerless, but withholding our consent to war, and by doing so becoming powerful and irresistable. Something is happening here.  On March 5th, Lexington High School students have planned an elaborate day of anti-war protests, including arranging speakers, signs, leaflets, and a march.  In the local Staples store yesterday, I overheard two kids talking about how to convince kids to leave class and they seemed to be political.  I asked them if they were from Lexington High.  No, they said, Arlington High school.  They were also planning what to do March 5th, and wondering how to organize for it. At the Saturday noon rally this past weekend, we had twenty minutes of live coverage, plus interviews, from the local TV news. There is a story here, of people not docilely accepting what they are "supposed" to accept and do.  It is still not clear how far this wave of action can take us--but one thing is clear.  Just like the women in Lysistrata, acting up is bringing liberation for ourselves.  It is hard to put that feeling back into the old bottle of individual fear and isolation, once it has burst out.       11:23:04 PM   comment []

© Copyright 2003 Toby Sackton. Last update: 4/2/2003; 11:23:14 PM.