event for peace with organic vegan food

[Guest guest]

Catering for the following event is being provided by

the new Daily Harvest Catering, a vegan, organic

catering company in Emeryville. They also deliver

lunch in the Emeryville, Oakland, Berkeley area; my

office ordered from them today and it was delicious!

I highly recommend it.

 

Please read about the event below. For reservations

or more information, please email me at

lysistrataoaklandca.

 

Activists Worldwide Use Ancient Play to Address

Current Crisis

 

Public Readings of Lysistrata in 32 Countries Condemn

War in Iraq

 

OAKLAND, CA -- On March 3, 2003, the Lysistrata

Project will present worldwide readings of

Aristophanes’ ancient Greek anti-war comedy

Lysistrata. To date, 389 play readings are scheduled

in 32 countries to voice opposition to the war in

Iraq; those numbers increase hourly. A reading will

take place at The Black Box in (1928 Telegraph Avenue)

Downtown Oakland to raise money for Not In Our Name

Bay Area (www.nionbayarea.net), a charity working for

peace and against war without end. This event, which

begins at 7:00 p.m., includes a reception featuring

tantalizing vegan, organic cuisine from Daily Harvest

Catering (www.dailyharvestcatering.com). Patrick

Cress' Telepathy will play live music before and after

the reading. There will also be an awesome new CD

raffle featuring work by such artists as Ani DiFranco,

Utah Phillips, Melissa Farrick and many local artists

as well.

 

Lysistrata tells the story of women from opposing

states that 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.

 

In addition to readings in international cities such

as London, Berlin, Paris, Beirut, and Jerusalem,

groups from nearly every state in the U.S.A. are

hosting events as part of this worldwide theatrical

act of dissent. Participants in this grassroots

project come from all walks of life. For example:

-- College students in Texas will hold

Lysistrata-reading marathons on a conservative campus;

-- Midwestern homemakers will conduct readings with

their book clubs;

-- Teachers will use the study guide from the

Lysistrata Project’s web site in their classes;

-- A man in Beirut will put on his own adaptation of

the play that incorporates Arabic and English anti-war

poetry; and

-- A woman in California will stage her reading with

the patients and staff in the hospital where her

partner is undergoing cancer treatment.

 

In New York City, where the project originated, dozens

of teams of actors and directors will read Lysistrata

in public spaces throughout the day. The Lysistrata

Project will then present an all-star reading of the

play that evening.

 

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 Bower 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. " By rushing to war with

Iraq, the White House not only drives us at least $60

billion deeper into deficit spending, but also

alienates our allies, threatens an already unstable

Middle East, and fans the flames of anti-American

sentiment all over the world. "

 

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! "

 

 

In the Bay Area, there are multiple readings planned,

including at least five in San Francisco, and an event

at Berkeley Repertory Theatre at 6:00 and 9:00 p.m

 

 

 

 

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