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Aristophanes'

Presented by Weber State University Department of Performing Ar

September 22, 2009

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The Name has changed. The Story stays the Same

Who: Weber State University Honors Program & Department of Performing Art
What: Aristophane's Thesmophoriazusae/Celebrating Ladies
When: Tuesday, 22 September 2009 * 1:00 pm
Where: Hetzel-Hoellein Room, Special Collections

Weber State University Department of Performing Arts Greek Readers Theatre presents Aristophanes'  Thesmophoriazusae/Celebrating Ladies," Tuesday, September 22, 1:00 p.m., in Special Collections, Stewart Library. This is a free performance and open to the public. The production is recommended for mature audiences only and contains mature themes and language. The cast is composed of WSU faculty, staff and students.

"Thesmophoriazusae" (aka "Celebrating Ladies"-ambiguous meaning intended) was written in 411 BC. In the fantasy, the famous playwright Euripides learns that the women of Athen are plotting to kill him because of his depiction of women in his plays. The women are meeting at an annual, women-only festival (Thesmophoria), a celebration of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone. Euripides sends his brother-in-law, disquised as a woman to spy on the plot. Of course, he is discovered. The antics of the capture and rescue provide the rest of the plot. The script has been heavily edited for length to run approximately 45 minutes. Even so, the spirit of the original play is intact.

This is the 9th year of the Greek Readers Theatre celebration of Aristophanes' comedies. His existing plays are listed below in the
order they were written amd including the year they were performed at WSU. Caril Jennings, the producer of this series, says, "My goal is to present all of Aristophanes' work before I die. That means I only have three more years and this project will be complete. Then, I'll just start recycling the scripts. He is always in style because there always seems to be a surplus stupidity to be satirized!"

*The Acharnians (425 BC) at WSU: A Separate Peace in 2008
*The Knights (Equites) (424 BC) At WSU: The Suits in 2007
The Clouds (Nubes) (original 423 BC, uncompleted revised version from 419 BC - 416 BC survives)
The Wasps (Vespae) (422 BC)
*Peace (Pax) (first version, 421 BC) at WSU in 2006
*The Birds (Aves) (414 BC) at WSU in 2003
*Lysistrata (411 BC) at WSU in 2001 and again on 03/03/03
*Thesmophoriazusae or The Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria (first version, c. 411 BC) at WSU in 2009
*The Frogs (Ranae) (405 BC) at WSU in 2002
*Ecclesiazusae or The Assemblywomen (c. 392 BC) at WSU in 2005 Plutus or Wealth (second version, 388 BC)

in 2004 an original script, "The Apology of Michael Moore" by Peter Vernezze, was performed instead of an Aristophanes play.