The Talbot Theatre production of "Lysistrata" both entertained and delighted this member of the audience, who was there partly because of an English assignment requirement, but mainly because of the opportunity to enjoy a live theatre production. The theatre company employed many different techniques to bring this antiwar play to life. These techniques can be broken into three categories, which visually enhanced the text of the play. The first of these categories is the setting, the stage lighting, and the props. The second component is the symbolism of some of those props, and the third component is the character portrayals by the actors on the stage.
             To take us back to ancient Greece, the props master employed a very simple interpretation using columns on a raised set of steps, with a backdrop of blue. To add to the feel of the era, a statue stands in the middle of the platform. This platform serves double duty as the Akropolis and as the Citadel, both of which the women have occupied. When the men light a fire below the walls of the Akropolis, smoke pours out of the bundle of sticks, making it appear as if a fire has really been ignited. Fortunately the women are ready and the fire is extinguished and the men all doused with water, which is portrayed well with buckets and actions that look as if the men are being driven away by the water. When Kinesias comes to see Myrrhine, and they head off to Pan's cave, the stage lighting is dimmed to give the effect of the darkness of being in a cave. The most strikingly visual use of stage props is the appearance of larger than life erect phalluses under the tunics of all the male main characters during the second half of the play.
             These seemingly grotesque male members serve to symbolize the frustration of the men. However, they are also a symbol of how the men's political power has been superseded by the primitive urge for sex, and how the women now hold power over the m...