If the promise of sex is the ultimate aphrodisiac, the threat of no sex certainly can be the ultimate weapon in a power play between the sexes. In playwright Yvette Heyliger's new anti-war comedy, White House Wives: Operation Lysistrata!, a group of upper echelon political wives decide to take matters into their own hands in order to subvert the war agenda of their Republican husbands. Written and directed by Heyliger, White House Wives: Operation Lysistrata! will be performed beginning June 7th at the Robert Moss Theatre, located at 440 Lafayette Street as part of the 3rd Annual Planet Connections Theatre Festivity.
Following in the vein of her play Hillary and Monica: The Winter of Her Discontent, award-winning playwright, Yvette Heyliger shows once again how sex and the lust for power are forever intertwined. Inspired by the prologue of Aristophanes' Lysistrata, White House Wives: Operation Lysistrata! is set in 2002 in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House where
Laura Bush, Lynne Cheney,
Alma Powell, Cherie Blair and friends gather on the eve of the congressional vote for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq. Capturing Aristophanes' strong anti-war message and laced with bawdy sexual humor and pointed wit, the ladies debate the pros and cons of First Lady
Laura Bush's proposal to withhold sex from their husbands in order to prevent with Iraq.
White House Wives: Operation Lysistrata! stars Pamela Bierly Jusino* as
Laura Bush, Mary Tierney* as LYNNE CHENEY, Yvonne Farrow* as
Alma Powell, Leslie Lynn Meeker* as JOYCE RUMSFELD, Kate Konigisor* as STEPHANIE TENET, Natasha Yannacañedo* as SIGNIFICANT OTHER,
Terria Joseph* as CHERIE BLAIR and
Clark Jackson* as STAGE MANAGER. The creative team includes Larry Farrow (Composer/Arranger/Sound Design), Yvonne Farrow (Choralography), Patrice An
Drew Davidson (Set Design),
Joyce Liao (Lighting Design), Faith Heyliger (Costume Design) and Sir Louis Jones* (Stage Manager). This production is an Equity-Approved Showcase.
Yvette Heyliger wrote and directed What Would Jesus Do?, which won seven 2010 AUDELCO Recognition Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre, including the
August Wilson Playwright Award and Dramatic Production of the Year. Yvette has directed her plays at numerous National Black Theatre Festivals, the Midtown Inter
National Theatre Festival, Gloucester Stage Company, and the Hollywood Court Theatre. She was honored with an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for her published play, Autobiography of A Homegirl. Look for her new book, What A Piece of Work Is Man!: Plays for Leading Women. Heyliger and sister, Yvonne Farrow, have their own
Production Company, Twinbiz (twins in the business). The twins will receive the inaugural "Emerging Producer Award" this summer at the National Black Theatre Festival, the premiere showcase for Black Theatre in the nation. Some of Heyliger's professional and associate memberships include:
Dramatists Guild, Broadway League of Producers, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Heyliger is an advocate for parity for women artists in the American theatre. www.twinbiz.com.
Each show in the Festivity selects a charitable organization to support. The Company of White House Wives: Operation Lysistrata! has chosen "To Iraq With Love," a campaign of the AdoptaPlatoon Soldier Support Effort ®, a volunteer-based nonprofit 501 C-3 dedicated to serving deployed United States Service Men and Women. Audience members can participate by bringing selected care package items, as well as cards and letters to encourage and uplift our troops, ensuring them that they are not forgotten by a grateful Nation. For a complete list of items to bring to the theatre drop off box, visit
www.planetconnections.org/whitehousewivesoperationlysistrata/.
Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is New York's premiere eco-friendly/socially conscious theatre festival. Fostering a diverse cross-section of performances, the festival seeks to inspire artists and audiences both creatively and fundamentally, in a festive atmosphere. At the heart of the festivity are like-minded individuals striving to create professional, meaningful theatre, while supporting organizations, which give back to the community at large.
Running from June 7th-June 18th, WHITE HOUSE WIVES: OPERATION LYSISTRATA! will be performed at the
Robert Moss Theatre at 440 Studios, located at 440 Lafayette Street (between Astor Place and 4th Street) as part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Show times are Tuesday, June 7th at 8:15pm, Friday, June 10th at 4:30pm, Sunday, June 12th at 1:30pm, Monday, June 13th at 4pm, Thursday, June 16th at 6pm and Saturday, June 18th at 6pm. All tickets are $18.00. To purchase tickets call 866-811-4111 or online at www.planetconnections.org. Members of the press are invited to all performances.
