Making love not war in Athens metro

A troupe of thespians from the Greek National Theatre will surprise passengers at Athens Metro (Syntagma station) this Thursday by giving them a teaser performance of the classic comedy ‘Lysistrata’ by Aristophanes.

The cultural surprise expecting Athenian commuters is part of the National Theatre’s marketing campaign to promote the upcoming production ‘Lysistrata’ this August 5-6 at the ancient theatre of Epidaurus.

The production will be part of both the Athens and Epidaurus Festival this summer, and will be directed by Michail Marmarinos.

This classic comedy, from which the phrase ‘make love not war’ was certainly inspired from, was originally performed in Athens in 411 BCE and tells the story of a woman’s campaign to end the Peloponnesian War by using the deprivation of sex as leverage in her efforts to stop it.

Lysistrata persuades the women of Greece to withhold having sex from their warring husbands and lovers as a means of forcing them to negotiate peace.

The production will tour other theatres in Greece during August with performances also scheduled at the following locations:

August 12 - Island of Andros on;

August 20 - Ancient Theatre of Philippi in Kavala;

August 23 - Ancient Theatre of Dion in Katerini;

August 28 - Ancient Olympia;

August 30-31 - Roman Odeon, Patras;

September 4 - Papagou Garden Theatre;

September 9 - Theatro Dasous, Thessaloniki;

September 12 - Old Oil Mill,  Elefsina;

September 16 - Theatre of the Rocks, Athens

September 19 - Dimitris Kintis Park Theatre, Ilioupolis

September 21 - Park Theatre, Nea Smyrni, Athens