On its opening night, my friend and I went to see Lysistrata. Little did we know, it would soon become the best production either of us have seen on campus.
A collaboration between the Nottingham Lakeside Arts Centre and the Nottingham New Theatre, Lysistrata brings the best out of the student actors on the professional stage. In fact, I could hardly believe that I was witnessing fellow university students at all — in some cases, their talent was more impressive to me than what I had seen from professional actors!
For someone who didn’t know much other than the basic plot, I was quite worried about following along with the Ancient Greek play on my first viewing. However, seconds into the palpable opening number, my nerves were calmed.
A lighting change followed by a surprising number of Joan Jett’s ‘I Don’t Give a Damn About My Bad Reputation’ was performed to perfection and captured the audience’s attention to great effect – I wish I could watch that scene on repeat! From that moment on, the audience followed the rest of the play aptly, laughing at all the right moments which ranged from the most outrageous innuendos to the more discrete jokes. The reception of the audience marked the actors’ ability to be equally compelling at times of both frustration and of comedy.
The incorporation of song, dialogue and expression helped to tell the story seamlessly; a winning formula from all creative teams. The crew clearly had their work cut out for them too, which they pulled off with success to match the cast: the lights and staging transported the audiences into the contemporary adaptation of Ancient Greece.
Overall, my friend and I left the show with smiles on our faces, agreeing that it was the best production either of us had seen on campus. I’m certain that many others will leave with the same feeling.
Learn more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IqghnoLnS4
By Chloe Jade Clarke