Kathryn Blume, co-founder of the Lysistrata Project, an internationally successful theatrical act of dissent, has written and is performing a new play, The Accidental Activist, the debut production for her fledgling theater company, Mighty Ruckus. The play is a one-woman, mostly-factual, autobiographical sketch that chronologically tracks the last six months of a woman on the verge – of what, well, she’s not sure. What Kathryn Blume knows at the onset of Activist is that her New York acting career is going nowhere because she is “uncastably quirky,” she hates her day job typing the “verbatim transcripts of network newscasters that pass for journalists,” and she has been unable to save a world that is in desperate need of saving.

Surprisingly, this tale of angst and confusion is anything but cliché. While it has the potential to be a self-aggrandizing or woe-is-me rant with political undertones, instead Activist is a humorous, self-deprecating look at motivation and achievement. This isn’t to say that the play is not political – it is. But Blume acknowledges the potential diversity of her audience by beginning with a disclaimer. She says, 'For the next sixty minutes or so I will be emphatically expressing a number of my very own personal political opinions. I offer these only in service of the story and I have no attachment or expectation that you share, adopt, or even approve of them. In other words – if they bug you, just ignore them, because the whole point here is that no one ever listens to me anyway.'
From this point on, Blume is all over the stage: sitting at a desk, standing on a chair, bouncing on a trampoline that doubles as a bed. Each story she tells builds momentum, mirroring her energy on the stage. In one instance, she recounts writing an apologetic letter to Yemenis that gets published in the Yemeni Times. It elicits an angry email fromranting about “liberal scum” like her who want to “break up the USA and turn it into a socialist state.” The letter triggers a hilarious satirical response telling ILoveAmerica how she’s pissed too: about mass genocide, and suburban sprawl and how the American educational system sucks – and she signs it “Love, Liberal Scumbag.”

Sometime in December, after learning about the Total Information Awareness Project she attempts to write a second well-intentioned letter to the White House. “But something seems to be wrong with my pen. Every time I try to write Dear Mr. President, it comes out: Dear Mr. spoiled, sociopathic, war-mongering, power-hungry, over-entitled fascist…” Her frustration hits a crescendo around New Years in Vermont. In another sidesplitting scene she deftly shifts characters to play herself, her husband and her mother-in-law embroiled in a psychological tango about her fragile emotional state. Back in New York, at the bottom of the bottom, the country steadily marching to war, she decides to do a reading of Aristophanes anti-war sex farce, Lysistrata, as her action for Theaters Against War (THAW). She teams up with another New York actor, Sharron Bower, and together they turn the Lysistrata reading into an international peace movement, the Lysistrata Project. To keep the play at a modest length Kathryn spares many of the details of the project. She thunders through: the website is launched, readings are scheduled all over the world and in each of the fifty United States. They take place on March 3rd, reaching an estimated 200,000 people worldwide.

The Lysistrata Project is a critical success, combining art and action. “It’s like Peace descends for a visit and brings her friends Rockin’ Good Time and Laughs Her Ass Off,” says Blume. Sparking fits of laughter seems to be Blume’s specialty, but she can also massage the tears out of a hardened cynic. She articulates the fear and powerlessness that so many people feel in times of conflict; then she slips into other characters to illustrate the strength and resilience of individuals at these times. Her reenactment of the acceptance speech made by Amira Bakkan, a member of Sudanese Mothers For Peace, at the Right Living Awards, complete with a polished accent and singing, is empathetic and stirring. The story she tells about a French woman at the end of World War II learning to give up her hate of Germans at a conference in Switzerland is full of hope at people’s capacity for change.

Change is another theme of this well written, well-acted, inspiring play. The Accidental Activist protests apathy – by individuals and society. The capacity for change is illustrated throughout. Art changes people too. “In a lot of ways, I think art (especially comedy) pleads your case so much better than shouting angrily,” says Chris Alonzo, director of the Grand Central Station reading of Lysistrata. “In our personal lives, do we give more attention to someone who yells at us, or someone who shakes our hand and makes us laugh?”

Persuasion is not the intent of this play; it is laughter. It teaches us something about the world and ourselves. It expresses political beliefs but is not a polemic telling the audience what to think. It is enlightening, it is great entertainment and, above all, it is a good reason to start listening to Kathryn Blume.

--Leah Greenstein is a writer living in New York City.

Editor’s note: The following interview is an excerpt from a conversation Kathryn Blume had with Political Affairs by e-mail. Kathryn Blume is a New York-based playwright and peace activist. She is the author and performer of The Accidental Activist and helped found the Lysistrata Project, a global theater-based anti-war performance.

PA: What is the Lysistrata Project?

KB: The Lysistrata Project was an event that happened on March 3, 2003 when over 1000 groups in 59 countries and in all 50 states did readings of the ancient Greek anti-war comedy Lysistrata as a protest against the war on Iraq. The Lysistrata Project is unique because it’s the first worldwide theater event for peace, it’s certainly one of the largest, most widespread simultaneous events ever organized, and it beautifully displayed the organizing power of the internet. We got immense global press coverage and raised over $100,000 for peace-oriented charities.

Back in December, I heard about a new group in New York called THAW – Theaters Against War. I’d been working on a modern screenplay adaptation of Lysistrata. I soon realized that the screenplay probably wouldn’t be ready and I got the idea to just do a reading of Lysistrata itself. That afternoon, I got an email from a woman named Sharron Bower, an actor. Sharron thought it was a great idea. We thought we could do the reading as a benefit for humanitarian aid in Iraq. Then we thought we could cast celebrities to raise more money. By Sunday night, we’d decided to do readings all over the country. We spent the next few days putting up a website, and then we emailed everyone we knew telling them about it. Everyone thought it was a good idea and within a very short period of time, forwarded our email around the world. Twice.

PA: What special contribution has it made?

KB: I think it activated a lot of people who’d never done anything political before. I think it convinced many, many folks that they did – and do – have a voice and can contribute quite actively to our political process – and still have fun in the bargain.

PA: Is theater your background?

KB: I’ve been acting since I was a kid. But I’ve been interested in environmental issues for years, and actually have a self-designed undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Theater. The “official” title of the degree is Environmental Dramaturgy. I’ve worked off-Broadway, in regional theater, and film, but I’ve also worked for the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and Forest Watch and I founded an environmental news radio show that ran on Pacifica for a while called Earth on the Air.

PA: Will The Accidental Activist go on the road?

KB: The Accidental Activist will indeed go on the road. Folks can check the www.TheAccidentalActivist.com for a tour schedule, and should feel free to contact me if they’re interested in bringing the show to their community.

PA: What other work are you planning?

KB: I’m in the beginning research stages of creating a show tentatively titled, The Belly of the Beast. It’s my personal attempt to create the Mideast Peace Plan. I’m also extremely interested in being involved in regime change here at home. Whether that means I’ll do voter registration or just offer my show as a fundraiser for political events, I’m not sure.

PA: Why is it so important to preserve civil liberties?

KB: The Bush administration and their allies fight dirty and they play for keeps. They’ve demonstrated that over and over again. Every citizen of the country has got to feel free to call a foul when they see it. Active, vocal dissent has got to be freely allowed, because that is the basis of a true democracy. The saddest moment of the election for me was not when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bush. It was right after that when Gore and Lieberman and Nader and the whole rest of us didn’t take to the streets in protest when there was nothing stopping us from doing it. I guess we all thought, “Well, he’s an idiot. How much harm can he do in four years?”