The performance is free and any proceeds found in the hat will benefit LMNOP - Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace (http://lmno4p.org), a non-profit, anti-war organization and information clearing house for Bay Area anti-war resources based in Oakland, California.
For more information and an interactive map for the "One Man Water Cooler Lysistrata," see http://webwm.com/lys. Long Time Activist Mr. Howard has a long history of peace activism beginning in 1974 when he co-founded the first high school chapter of Amnesty International at Bellarmine College Prep when he was 15. In 1988, the year that scientists told Congress about the rising threat of an ozone hole caused by a "Greenhouse Effect," Wm Leslie Howard became a clean air activist by selling his car and commuting on public transportation, bicycle and walking, vowing to always work close to where he lived. In 1989 Mr. Howard donated his bone marrow to an unknown person in need. Mr. Howard was vehemently against the bombing of Belgrade and created the anti-war website, The Truth About Kosovo (http://webwm.com/kosovo) and a Bay Area wide calendar of peace events. This year he brought LMNOP (http://lmno4p.org) online -- an internationally popular, highly visited anti-war/peace activist resource site. In 1999, Mr. Howard was arrested (see http://webwm.com/kpfa/h/odyssey.htm) in an act of passive civil disobedience at the protests of the surreptitious corporate take-over of the community-based radio station KPFA, the anchor station of the Pacifica Network. Members of the Board at Pacifica were making plans to sell one of the only community supported, non-corporate funded, non-collegiate, radio stations in the Bay Area. After a lengthy struggle involving all five of the network stations, the battle seems over for now and the station remains in the hands of its listener sponsors. Lysistrata Lysistrata tells the story of women from opposing states who unite to end a war by refusing to sleep with their husbands until the men agree to lay down their swords. Powerless in their society and distraught over too many of their children being slaughtered in battle, the women take the only tactic available to them: they withhold sex. Fast-forward 2,400 years: swords are now weapons of mass destruction. Faced with the prospect of massive loss of human life -- both Iraqi and American -- Lysistrata Project participants world-wide take a new tactic and add their voices to the mounting clamor of global anti-war protests. The Lysistrata Project The Lysistrata Project was conceived in early January of this year by New York actors Kathryn Blume and Sharron Bower. "Before we started Lysistrata Project, we could do nothing but sit and watch in horror as the Bush Administration drove us toward a unilateral attack on Iraq," says co-founder Blume. "So we emailed all our friends and put up a web site. The response has been enormous." Co-founder Bo er adds, "Many people have emailed us to say how distraught they feel about the war. Now they feel empowered to do something, and foster dialogue in their own communities." Blume and Bower describe themselves as patriotic Americans. "With the freedom and wealth of our country comes great responsibility -- and this war is not a responsible act," says Bower. "If America rushes into a unilateral attack on Iraq, the White House not only drives our country deeper into deficit spending, but also alienates our allies, fans the flames of anti-American sentiment all over the world, and endangers our troops prematurely -- not to mention the thousands of Iraqis that will be killed or devastated by ÒShock & AweÓ warfare." Blume concludes, "Our purpose is to make it very clear that President Bush does not speak for all Americans. Our message is simple: If you oppose this war, then speak up!" Water Cooler version The "Water Cooler" version of "Lysistrata" was adapted for a minimum of two actors by Christopher Arnott and was originally published in the New Haven Advocate. Wm Leslie Howard has adapted the adapatation for a one-man performance and has embellished some of these scenes and added a few more, including characters such as Marilyn Monroe and Alan Greenspan. This short version of the play will last about 10 minutes. Maybe more if Mr. Howard begins to "ham it up," a trait for which he is infamous. Calendar Listing One Man Water Cooler Lysistrata Performed by veteran actor Wm Leslie Howard Monday, March 3, 2003 3:33pm 101 Paseo De San Antonio (near San Jose Repertory Building) YWCA/Julia Morgan Building 1915-1975 S. Second and San Antonio, San Jose Julia Morgan, future architect of Hearst Castle, designed this, one of San Jose's finest buildings. Ornate wooden interior details were salvaged by the city before the building came down and were taken to the city storage yard in Las Plumas. Unfortunately, they were accidentally left out in the rain to rot. http://www.sanjose.com/history/bldgs/gone-9727.html ###