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Soon after Lysistrata, Vanguard Theatre’s fall production, had opened, the audience was enthralled, hanging on every word and laughing until tears rolled down their faces.

Last Thursday night, Lysistrata’s cast showed how hard they had worked and the fun they had doing it. The opening of the fall play was a huge success that left the audience wanting more.

The story of Lysistrata, written by Aristophanes and translated by Douglass Parker, is one the cast hopes we may learn from today. Fed up with the war between Athens and Sparta, Lysistrata and the other women use their wily ways to devise a plot: control the treasury, stop the love and stop the war. The play follows the women as they do this but allows ample time for many laughs.

The beginning was shaky, but the actors soon gained confidence. The play opened with five women plotting their attack. The women were perfect on their blocking, which is large movements on stage, much like choreography. The blocking itself was visually outstanding, using the whole stage with broad sweeps and displaying emotion with quick, firm shifts.

Audience favorites were Lysistrata (Jennifer Horbelt), Lampito (Ana Shaw), and the Choruses of Old Men and Women (Derrick Casey, Tony Liberty, Matthew Maitland, Nick Mounts, Anne Albrecht, Kendra Bell, Laura Hensley, Annie Pelfrey), who had the audience spellbound. As the play progressed, the audience fell more in love with each character, like Jonathan Johnson, who was a convincing Commissioner of Public Safety and was particularly impressive when he reappeared drunk in the second act, the character completely different.

The Choruses especially had the audience hooked. From amazingly accurate voices to small details like flatulence and arthritis, these eight actors covered it all. Standing out among these actors was Albrecht, Mounts, Casey and Pelfrey. There were times the men forgot their age, but their overall performance forgave those.

The cast had great chemistry. The Classic moment between Lysistrata and the Old Women’s Leader (Albrecht), the “pregnant” woman (Jessica Sims), the naughty scene between Myrrhine (Natalie Horbelt) and Kinesias (Tim Williams) and the meeting of the delegates (Will Cook, Eric Danz, Tim Williams, Casey Unger) are among the most memorable and some of the best examples of the cast’s talent and excitement.

Though there were a few minor acting problems, the show progressed beautifully. Through their performance they answered the question “War, what is it good for?” with a resounding “Absolutely Nothin.’”

“I heard there’s lots of sex,” began one conversation as the audience awaited the opening of Lysistrata.

The wonderer found out quickly. The house lights dimmed, the stage lights came up, and soon the entire audience was mesmerized by the cast’s performance.

The house was full to the brim for Thursday night’s performance, with every member of the audience buzzing with enthusiasm.

The show got constant laughs: big, hearty, from-the-gut-laughs. The cast seduced the audience with comic fervor, the audience yielding completely and willingly.

The viewers were attentive and well-behaved, and the cast handled them well, forming an immediate bond with them. Intermission came at a great cliffhanger, a nice split in the originally one-act show, and found the audience members back in their seats early, eager for the second act.

And they got what they wanted. The second act opened with phalluses, lots of them. The audience was near hysterics watching the characters struggle around on stage in need of love. The house lights rose to thunderous applause.

The audience enjoyed the show and picked out several favorites. Tim Shortess, a freshman Chemistry major, “loved the old people.” Megan Gallup, a senior Education major, found the show “delightfully arousing.”

The cast felt the same way, and appreciated a great audience. Ken Zimmerman, director, said that “it’s audiences like this that make all the hard work worthwhile.”

A good show consists not only of good acting but excellence in technical areas as well.

The lighting of Lysistrata, designed by Tim Barrington, was simple but effective. The top of the show had cross-hatched lighting on downstage center, which gradually faded into yellows, growing warm and meshing more as the show progressed, capturing the plot line and subtly impressing it upon the audience.

The majority of the music, mostly circa 1960s, dealt with war. The audience walked in to CCR’s “Fortunate Son,” the music growing more and more to the point, opening the show with the Strong/Whitfield classic, “War.” Dispersed throughout the play were other anti-war tunes, as well as some audience favorites.

The set, designed by Doug Cook, followed the ancient Greek tradition with a modern twist. Cook schemed a Grecian building, slanted to the audience’s right and a set littered with trash, graffiti and broken stage props. This all combined to establish the show’s mood.

The costumes, created by Melanie Hollis, were bold and spoke volumes. The Choruses’ costumes mirrored each other, emphasizing the parallel plot line between the young and old people. The Old Men’s beards were particularly clever. The other men’s costumes, more of an ancient Greek style, contrasted nicely with the women’s costumes, slinky dresses in modern cuts. The contrast helped to bridge the gap between the original setting of the story and the modern influence for today’s audience.

“Breathe in and stretch,” began Zimmerman, starting warm-ups on Monday night’s rehearsal.

Buzzing with energy, the cast suppressed giggles and focused their energy. Casey Unger described his fellow cast members as “a big family,” and the camaraderie showed. Laughing and bumping into each other, often on purpose, they began.

The atmosphere went from an excited hum to a breathless wait, the metallic ring of the shifting stage lights the only voice in the otherwise dark theatre. Suddenly “WAR… what is it good for?” blasted from the speakers and Lysistrata (Jennifer Horbelt) burst through the center entrance.

“Wait,” she called, “is this playing when I come out?” Yes. “Can we take it from the top?” she asked.

And so goes the technical rehearsal, in which lights, sounds, costume, makeup and all the “other” aspects of a show are added in. The rest of the evening went much like the first few minutes: smoothly but with a few hiccups.

Some actors were distracted by their bodies in the costumes, others overdid their accents to combat the music and others simply lost their places. Regardless of the problem, all the cast members helped each other out, making the night go smoothly. They improvised until they found their place, they took the scene again, and they all laughed with each other, working together.

Jonathan Johnson said that working with this cast was a “colorful experience.” That, like the friendships they have formed, was obvious Monday night.