If there’s an ideology in “Lysistrata,” the antiwar play by Aristophanes, it’s the idea that a
\ncomedy 2,400 years old can still make us laugh — even when the double entendres and smutty
\njokes are delivered in Greek to an English-speaking audience of contemporary New Yorkers who
\nnot so long ago had Rudy Giuliani as mayor.<\/P>
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If Giuliani were still in office, there’s no telling what he might have done to ban a As staged by director Kostas Tsianos (who also translated the ancient Greek text), this In a director’s note, Tsianos writes about the Dionysian rites, fertility ceremonies and
\ntheatrical cast of horny women from making risqu\u00e9 references to thick cocks and leather
\ndildoes, and hornier men from making anguished, comical displays of their monumental
\nhard-ons. But judging from the reception the other night at City Center<\/FONT><\/B><\/A>, where “Lysistrata”
\nis being performed by the National Theatre of Greece<\/FONT><\/B><\/A>
\n(through Sunday), our censorious former mayor would have found it impossible to convince the
\naudience that the production was anything other than classy, pleasurable, vibrant and, yes,
\ntimeless entertainment.<\/P>
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\n“Lysistrata” had the flavor of a rollicking, tuneful musical comedy. Both ethnic and authentic, it’s
\nby far the best production of the play that I’ve ever seen. With the help of engaging music,
\ncolorful costumes, and especially striking choreography, Tsianos transforms the Greek chorus
\nfrom its usual role of reflective, collective commentator into a vivid, earthy, individualized
\ncarnival of peasant soldiers and housewives. Their seamlessly woven songs and dances have an
\neffortless, genuine quality.<\/P>
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\nimprovised phallic songs from which Aristophanes’s play originated. The production itself turns
\nout to be a successful echo, however distant, of those origins. <\/P>
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