A strident call for peace

A popular antiwar slogan of the 1960s urged people to “make love, not war.” In 411 BC, the Greek playwright Aristophanes put a very different spin on that notion. His motto, in essence, was: “Don’t make love until there is no more war.”

The Peloponnesian War was then two decades old, and the loss of life had been staggering. Aristophanes put out a call for peace in the comic “Lysistrata,” in which he envisioned the women of Athens and Sparta calling a sex strike until their men agreed to stop fighting.

Recently, “Lysistrata” has figured prominently in the theater of protest surrounding U.S. actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The most notable example took place March 3, when an Internet-driven campaign led to more than 1,000 readings of the play -- or works inspired by it -- in more than 50 countries.

As the centerpiece of its summer season, the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum is offering “Lysistrata 2003,” adapted by Ellen Geer. It’s an ambitious project, performed by more than 50 actors and musicians in the wooded, outdoor amphitheater. But for all its earnest intentions, it fails to do the very thing that makes the original so timeless: to entertain even as it gets people thinking.

Geer’s version unfolds in Washington, D.C., during the current cleanup phase of Iraqi operations. Heartsick over continuing casualties and worried about the future, women have taken over the Pentagon as well as an information center where the organizer, Lysistrata (Geer), has set up command.

As in the original play, the women run the gamut from Lysistrata’s charismatic, no-nonsense chief lieutenant (Earnestine Phillips) to a vacuous young woman (Willow Geer, offering an amusing take on a “Legally Blonde” type) who isn’t sure she should be there. Then there are twists Aristophanes probably wouldn’t have thought of, such as the strapping personal trainer (Bisk Consoli) who accompanies his fitness-conscious client (Melora Marshall) to the camp. He happens to be gay and becomes a prominent worker in the cause. So do war veterans, as well as a group of children.

Some of the updates reflect sharp thinking. But Geer errs in delivering dialogue so one-sided -- and so extreme in its views -- that it alienates even those who might be sympathetic to the message. Geers’ activists speak out against consumerism, globalization and technology. They don’t just want America out of Iraq; they want the American military and U.S. corporations out of all countries.

Alternative viewpoints are embodied mostly in buffoonish characters, such as the George W. Bush-like Southern politician (Alan Blumenfeld) who condescendingly agrees to listen to the women’s “little problem.” But Geer doesn’t seem to realize that her holier-than-thou activists are as fundamentalist, in their way, as those who hold the mind-set she rails against.

Political theater doesn’t come as a surprise from the Geer family. After all, Will Geer established this place for artists such as himself, who were blacklisted during the McCarthy era.

What does come as a surprise is the ragged artistry on display from such proven talents as Ellen Geer and director Heidi Helen Davis. Long pauses and fumbled lines (many by Geer herself), as well as amateurish, one-dimensional performances marred an opening-weekend performance, further blunting the message of an already compromised “Lysistrata.”

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‘Lysistrata 2003’

Where: Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.,

Topanga

When: Saturdays, 8 p.m., through Aug. 9; Sundays, 7:30 p.m., through

Aug. 10 and Sept. 7-28; Saturdays, 3 p.m., Aug. 23, 30 and Oct. 4-18

Ends: Oct. 18

Price: $14 and $22

Contact: (310) 455-3723

Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes