University of Virginia Library

Hampton Cast Revives Aristophanes

By JEFFREY RUGGLES

Two weeks ago, Hampton
Institute marked the opening of the
college's theatre season. The
Hampton Players presented "Black
Lysistrata," a version of the ancient
Greek comedy by Aristophanes,
complete with music and dancing, a
considerably modernized
translation of the play, and
naturally, a black cast. It was
baaaadd!

The music was written by a
student, Philippe Fields, and then
recorded onto tape by his band at a
middle-of-the-night session after the
band had performed during the
evening. Fields played tenor sax,
alto sax, flute, piano, and bass
guitar, over tracking on several
songs; the rest of the band included
organ, drums, guitar, and brass. The
music was sort of modern band
jazz, with shifting rhythms and keys;
the tunes were so catchy that
everybody connected with the play
was constantly humming and
singing them during the production.
There was even discussion of a cast
album.

During performances the tapes
of the instruments were played
behind the live voices of the cast.
The choreography was done by
another student, Michael Pickney,
who also acted. It was simple, such
things as women moving out
together, and swinging their hips in
unison; or the men marching at the
front of the stage, shaking their
fists at the women standing on the
top of the platforms which made
up the set.

Before Puritanism

For the purposes, however, the
choreography was very well suited.
Most of the players were not
sophisticated dancers, so any
complicated routines would
probably not have gone well; but
what movement there was came
across stylishly, pleased the eye,
and added to the music. Especially
successful was the number
"Victory", which closed the first
act and then the whole show,
featuring a vocal by Liz Williams
(playing Lysistrata) and the entire
cast.

The text for "Black Lysistrata",
in the words of a shocked high
school teacher at the Wednesday
matinee, "wasn't the same as the
play I remember reading." Students
of the ancient Greek drama will
know that the Greeks were free in
their treatment of sexual subjects
and nudity on stage; it was ages
before the invention of Puritan and
Victorian morals.

Truer Translation

The text which was used is a
truer translation of the original
than the more common version,
and even had to be toned down for
this production—for instance, a
female character "Peace" was
supposed to appear nude. That was
changed, but one line which wasn't,
never failed to break up the
audience: and old man and a leader
of the female troops are arguing;
the old man asks her if she has any
threats, so he can punch her. She
replies: "Any threats? Ha! Honey,
I'll crop your lungs and reap your
bowels, bite by bite; when I get
through with you, there ain't gonna
be no balls on your body for other
bitches to gnaw!" Compare that
with the other translation: I'll tear
the living guts out of you with my
teeth."

The lyrics for the songs were
written by cast members, and the
script underwent a great deal of
adaption. For example, the
choruses were almost entirely
omitted, with their roles being
assumed by the songs.

Men Whats the matter with
you all,

Fightin' up and killin' up
And then you want to ball.

As with many open-ended
productions, the players at first had
difficulties in coming together;
parts of the play were polished,
sharp, and funny, but they didn't
coalesce to from a complete whole.
As the week of presentation
advanced, though, the play
improved. Friday night, with a
responsive, largely-student
audience, it was wild, people were
going crazy with laughter, and at
the finale the cast went dancing
into the audience. The crew in the
light and sound booth was jumping
around and screaming, and the
audience was on its feet applauding,
many shouting, some dancing in the
aisles. Saturday night, although the
play was if anything better, the
crowd included many parents, who
did not display their emotions quite
so readily or openly.

Black Cast

"Black" was added to the title
primarily because all the cast save
one were black, although it was also
because "Lysistrata" had been set
in a black cultural context. Before
the play proper there was a
prologue, written by the director (a
white teacher) rather than
Aristophanes, which enacted
incidents from the shooting of
Martin Luther King, Kent State,
Jackson State, the deaths of sons of
Vietnam and Attica ("shot in the
back"), and the bombing of a
couple's new house ("Mama was
inside"). The serious introduction to
what was advertised as a comedy
confused some who saw the play,
but as a speaker in the prologue
said "Lysistrata isn't a women's lib
play, it's an everybody's lib play.
Maybe the time has come for this
2400-year-old dream to come true.
Maybe the Victory of the
Oppressed is at hand."

A few extra notes on the
Hampton scene: the Friday of the
play's success "Potemkin" was
playing just across the river, and
this past week "Birth of a Nation"
was here. There is a possibility a
series of New York underground
films may be started, and this
winter "Hiroshima Mon Amour",
"Citizen Kane", and Cocteau's
"Blood of a Poet" are all supposed
to be coming.