←Recommendations of blowhole.

Sometimes you find a script that makes you a little sad you’re only reading it on NPX on a whim and not because a nearby theatre is gearing up to produce it. Such is Blowhole.

Aly Kantor’s effortless wit sparkles in this adaptation of Lysistrata. Kantor keeps the heart of the classic intact while infusing each scene with intelligent, delightful, double entendre-rich dialogue.

Kantor’s smart, charming, and very funny play is an adaptation of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata but set in an American whaling town, 1906 Port Jefferson, during rising suffragism and increased availability of the early vibrator, as a group of women realize that they can wield more power and effect greater change by withholding rather than giving (and giving and giving). Kantor explores her characters’ feminist and personal concerns with wit and compassion, and provides nine terrific roles any actors would love. The anachronistic humor is also delightful. I can easily see it having great appeal for audiences. So much fun!

I'm not familiar with the original Greek myth that inspired Aly Kantor's radical adaptation, but trust me when I say that does not matter in the slightest--"BLOWHOLE" is a hilariously modern feminist battle cry full of clever wordplay and deliciously snarky women leading the charge. It's a perfect fit for any theater company wanting to do a charming period piece with twists appealing to modern audiences. Do it for the whales. A delightfully fun read from start to finish, highly recommended.

Another take on Aristophanes? Yes! "Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever!" No need. Kantor's done it. Her wit and humor is unbroken but it’s her underlying message that grabbed me most. Her voice as a woman comes through loud and clear. She pushes LYSISTRATA in a thoroughly modern and ecological direction; the women are saving their men from economical and ecological disaster they themselves are unknowingly perpetuating. MOBY DICK meets LYSISTRATRA meets ERIN BROKOVICH...but it's all Kantor. Brava, playwright.

I was on board with this from the moment I saw "A Note on Erections" underneath the character list and setting. Aly Kantor is so unbelievably great at adaptations which keep the original story but also feel relevant to today. This take on Lysistrata is smart and funny and uses donuts as a euphemism. What's not to love? The opportunities for physical comedy and visual jokes are ABUNDANT. For a good time at the theater, try this play.

BLOWHOLE is a witty, subversive, raunchy, feminist triumph. Kantor’s nautical, Edwardian setting for her Lysistrata retelling is unexpected and somehow absolutely perfect. Her characters leap off the page, embodying diverse perspectives on love, sex, gender, motherhood, politics and purpose—I’m a bit in love with every single one of them.

Aly Kantor’s intellectual agility and artful use of language and metaphor are dazzling, and amidst her ribald puns and double entrenches lie startlingly moving moments of emotional truth. At the heart of this sex farce lies a universal human need: to be seen and understood.

Raunchy and poignant in equal measure, Kantor's adaptation of "Lysistrata" is a staggering, tremendous achievement. The structural choices enacted in shifting the original's setting are genuine strokes of genius. Even moreover, it's funny as shit. This play is a goddamned delight, and producing companies should hunt it down like the whale it is (metaphorically). A well-crafted ensemble, physical comedy, wit and wordplay, donuts, it literally has everything you could ever want in your sex farce (with more surprises beneath its surface). The hole may be out of the question, but I cannot blow this play's horn loud enough.