The director's concept is to set the play Lysistrata in New York City in 1863, during a time of conflict between gangs similar to the film Gangs of New York. The staging will take place in Paradise Square, with a building representing the Acropolis and surrounding areas representing streets. Costumes will resemble those worn in Gangs of New York, with women's costumes denoting their gang affiliations and men dressed as police officers. Lighting will be naturalistic to indicate the time of day, and sound effects will be minimal to keep the production realistic.

1. DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT

2. MY CONCEPT
My concept for Lysistrata is based upon the
historical event and award winning film and
adaption of
THE GANGS OF NEW YORK

3. HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT
The play will be set in New York City in the year of 1863 in an area in
the central lower are of Manhattan borough. The gangs of New York
consisted of “The Five Points” which were made up of five streets;
LITTLE WATER
ANTHONY
CROSS
PARALLELS BETWEEN GANGS OF NEW YORK AND LYSISTRATA:
Conflict between several different groups of people
Currently a war happening
People from different areas of the larger place the action is set
Costume will be different to what we know now
Tension
Central area of focus
Authority involved

4. STAGING
One really big part of Lysistrata is the Acropolis, it is pretty much
where the play is set. Therefore within my concept I think its
obvious that I need a building or place to represent this. For my
performance paradise square will represent the Acropolis. Below is
an image of how I image my stage to be based upon. The building in
the middle will represent the inside of the Acropolis. In front of this
building is a triangular shaped grassed area. This is where the
conflicts and main speeches will be held. There will be signs veering
off stage will be the streets signs such as Orange Street. This is
where pretty much the entire play will be set.

5. COSTUME
I want the costumes in my performance of
Lysistrata to be similar to those warn in the
movie production of The Gangs Of New York. This
is because not only does it maintain what would
have been warn in the 1860’s but it has also been
slightly modernised to appeal to the 21st century
audience it now applies too. The woman will all
wear similar costumes however each will have a
different prominent colour depending on which
one of the five streets they come from. The men
will wear the outfits of police officers. The
women’s costumes will be pretty old and tattered
whereas the men’s will be clean cut and new.
Emphasising the divide.

7. LIGHTING AND SOUND
I want the lighting to be as naturalistic as
possible. The entire play, in my eyes will be set
outside and therefore I don’t really want any
special effect lighting apart from to show the
different times of day which will be done by
dimming and brightening.
The sound again won’t be a big aspect of the
performance. I don’t want very much non
digetic sound within the play.