March 3, 2003
In the first-ever worldwide theatrical act of dissent, there were at least 1,029 stagings of Lysistrata, the 2400-year-old anti-war comedy by Greek playwright Aristophanes. The performances all occurred on the same day in 59 countries to express opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The play tells of Athenian and Spartan women who unite to deny their lovers sex in order to stop the 22-year-long Peloponnesian War between the two city-states. Desperate for intimacy, the men finally agree to lay down their swords and see their way to achieving peace through diplomacy
