The Faux-Real Theatre Company to Present LYSISTRATA

The Faux-Real Theatre Company unites high art with high entertainment. With an approach to classics that is both raucous and rigorous, Faux-Real brings Aristophones' ancient battle of the sexes to vivid life, in the form of a 21st Century Poetry Slam in New York City beginning on September 28, 2015 and running through October 22, 2015 at the Nyuorican Poets Cafe, 236 E. 3rd St., NYC, 10009.

Faux-Real does LYSISTRATA in 2015 just like the Greeks did in 411 BCE: a tightly orchestrated Greek chorus, broad and bold acting style, live music, colorful masks, and - just like the Greeks had - some oversized phalluses. The wine will flow at the Nuyroican, NYC's premiere poetry cafe. Faux-Real turns the cafe into an ancient Greek marketplace where ideas are flung about like baseballs at a dunk-tank, jump-starting Aristophones' bawdy classic in a show designed to delight Athenians and New Yorkers alike.

Written (or chiseled) over 2425 years ago, Lysistrata was first presented to Athenians during a brief respite of peace after a series of miserable wars and corrupt politicians. The story: Lysistrata unites the Athenian women and their uncouth Spartan counterparts, convincing the women of Greece not to give it up, until the men lay down their swords. Historically scripted by a man, performed by men to an all-male audience, LYSISTRATA survived ancient patriarchy and wound up as a vehicle for feminist ideology, pacifist causes, and a challenge to the powers that be, asking questions we still ask today: What are women? What are men? Who is responsible for war? Can anyone stop it? Breaking from the Greek tradition, Faux-Real's LYSISTRATA features a co-ed, multi-ethnic, multi-generational cast of 14.