Saturday Night Performance At The Getty Villa
“Comedy too can sometimes discern what is right.” - Aristophanes
Live theater in two plus years and that too outdoors at the beautiful Getty Villa’s Lawrence and Fleischman Theater in Malibu. As the billing of the show proclaims “Lizastrata takes on the establishment, storms the Acropolis, and holds the treasury hostage until the long-warring men of Athens and Sparta commit to declaring peace”.
Ninety minutes passed like a flash as the women unite and take an oath to withhold sex from their husbands and lovers until peace is restored. A battle of the sexes of various ages ensues as the various roles are played out with men decrying women’s ability to lead and manage and yet finally being brought to heel by their sexual desires.
Set to Liza Minelli popular songs, renamed Lizastrata from the original Lysistrata penned by Aristophanes, the raunchy performance had the audience laughing, clapping, hooting and even blushing a time or two as the actors delivered lines which held nothing back; not the pandemic, or politics, or the attack on Jan 6 or the characteristics of the various counties and cities in California.
As the LA times proclaimed “ The annual outdoor presentation of an ancient classic at the Getty Villa’s Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman Theater is not usually such a rollicking and risqué affair” but it did provide a timely semblance of a return to live theater and a sense of normality after the lockdowns of the past 18 months.
While we did not explore the inside of the villa on this Saturday evening I included some pictures of the beautiful villa and gardens that I visited a few months ago. This is the inner peristyle of the beautiful Roman Villa that was modeled after an actual villa in Italy.
The outer peristyle with beautiful statuary, shrubs and bushes and beautifully laid out walkways. The actors included puns and tongue in cheek jokes that referred to the antiquities inside the villa as well as local venues.
The East Garden with its fountains and flowering plants. While the play itself is about Athens and Sparta this fountain would not have been out of place as a part of the setting.
The comedy made many allusions to antiquities housed within the rooms in the villa earning quite a few laughs from the audience. I found a paper that referenced specific works of art in the museum that show cased some of what the actors tried to portray with props and costumes.
When I first visited and strolled around the exhibit rooms I did not realize that there are many pieces both statuary and vases that depict some of what the play tried to convey through buffoonery and over the top props.
Intellectually we are aware that the ancient Romans and Greek had a different attitude to nudity as evidenced in statues and paintings from those times. I don’t think I quite reflected on it the same way until I attended this play.
For the performance this theater was lined with padded seats set a comfortable space apart to provide some distance between the theater goers.
We arrived early to give ourselves some social time to catch up as we ate our pre-ordered delicious meals on the terrace.
In the company of good friends, laughing at the slapstick jokes and raunchy over the top unbelievable props it was a great way to spend an evening. Taking pictures during the performance was forbidden so I can’t share some of the interesting costumes and props with you all.