Lysistrata: The Sex Strike, translated and updated by Germaine Greer and Phil Willmott, was delightfully realized by Youth Arts Leicestershire. Rather than simply pit the female and male cast members against each other, keeping within the gender roles, the cast members assumed parts of both genders, which made the production even more interesting. The costumes are made entirely from cleaning objects you would find in a hotel--mop heads serve as beards and wigs. Class issues as well as issues of sexism are at the forefront of this play, and the cast, wearing dark blue cleaners' uniforms against a black, white and grey background, do not shy away from controversy. It was very entertaining but also exposed issues of sexism, classism and war that definitely hold up thousands of years after the original play, and decades after Greer and Willmott wrote this script. The play isn't for children, and there is a lot of strong language, but never does it feel irrelevant. You should see it. It will remind you again of why we work for peace, and inspired me to think of some more creative approaches to social protest.

-Andy Glowaski