Review By Tom Mcelfresh

(L-R) Brianne Williams and Erika Berger in Stage First’s Lysistrata

In 1960s America it was "Make Love, Not War." In 5th century B.C. Greece, according to playwright Aristophanes, it became "Make love or war, guys. Take your choice."

The ancient but ageless comedy, Lysistrata, now revived by Stage First in a brash, trashy new adaptation, has the wives of Athens band together to end a lingering war with Sparta. Led by militant Ms. Lysistrata, they adopt a "No Peace, No Piece" policy. They storm the Athenian treasury, rout the men from Olympus, forge an alliance with the women of Sparta and reinforce each other's resolve. Ultimately, the men capitulate, end the war and the happy couples charge off to resume their marital maneuvers.

Director Nicholas Korn aimed the production at pure theatrical outrage, piling one cheerful vulgarity on another. His women are costumed in glitter-cloth minis and molded golden armor with exaggerated breasts. The men's costumes sport monumentally erect, scarlet phalluses. Unhappily, the comic value of such paraphernalia wears off as fast as its shock value. Then, the actors are left with encumbrances and the audience with distractions.

The script, adapted by someone suspiciously named "Rod Upright," is sometimes nicely comic, sometimes not quite so. It reaches its zenith of wit and outrageousness in some randy puns on familiar Shake-spearean lines.

Most members of the young, 14-member Stage First acting company are more ardent than able. Curiously for this play, the strongest performances come from men: bombastic Jim Stump as leader of the men and Chris Seiler as a deprived husband.

In the title role, Susan Kidd is vehement and speechy, not convinced or convincing. Opening night she suffered some costume mishaps and memory lapses. Erika Berger mistakes arch delivery for style and needs to discover that when actors think their lines are that funny, audiences don't.

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