Make love, not war.

These words will never mean the same after a viewing of No Refund Theatre's (NRT) latest production, Aristophanes' Lysistrata.

The play follows a group of women in Greece who are upset that their husbands are constantly away at war, so they decide to abstain from sex until their husbands agree to sign a peace treaty and come back home.

Director Adam Kapp (senior-psychology) and assistant director Chrissy Pryor (senior-English) first read the play in English class together.

"As soon as I read it I thought that it'd be something that would be good for NRT to do," Kapp said.

He said the play is appropriate because of the timeliness of its central themes, including opposition to war.

"There's definitely an anti-war message, which I think is really important right now," Kapp said.

"It's something to put out there to show that there are creative ways in which you can resist war if you don't agree with it, like if you don't agree with what the government's doing," he said.

Kapp and Pryor also said the show is topical because of the fast-approaching Valentine's Day and The Vagina Monologues, which is also this weekend.

"It's just a really good weekend to kind of think about gender stereotypes," Kapp said. "There's a lot of strong female characters ... We jokingly refer to the show as Sex and the Citadel because the women who occupy the Acropolis discuss sex a lot."

Julia Hynes (sophomore-liberal arts), who plays Lysistrata, described her character as "a really strong woman who leads the movement of all the women in Greece."

Kapp said that women in some Muslim countries have attempted to replicate Lysistrata's tactics. Hynes said she does not think the strategy would work in modern America.

"I was just thinking yesterday, maybe I should write a letter to Laura Bush, but I don't know, I don't think it would work," Hynes said.

Kapp and Pryor modernized the story to incorporate musical numbers and dance sequences.

"We're making it sort of colorful," Pryor said.

She said not to be surprised to see actors in Garfield and Powerpuff Girls togas dancing to No Doubt.

Kapp described the dance numbers as "something quite unlike anything Penn State has ever seen."

Eric Montellese (junior-computer engineering), who is a lead in the show, said students should not let the words "Greek comedy" create the unfair expectation that the show will be boring.

"This play's going to be a lot of fun," he said. "You hear it's a Greek play and it's 2500 years old and you think, 'oh my goodness, it's not going to be good, like real tame and stuff,' but it's really not. It's actually one of the most raunchy plays that I've read."

Kapp said a few changes were also made to make the play more accessible to college students who may not be familiar with ancient Greece, but Pryor said the major topics of the show are amazingly just as pertinent now as they were 2500 years ago.

Kapp joined NRT in fall of 2000 and Pryor has been involved since fall of 1999. Pryor will direct a show later in the semester featuring Kapp, however, Lysistrata marks Kapp's final directing job.

"It's my last chance to leave something for Penn State and make a difference," he said. "So I thought this piece was appropriate and it's a good message. I'm really happy with everyone in the cast."

He added, "No matter what you're in the mood for when you come, you'll enjoy it."