Genesius Guild's “Peace" at Lincoln Park -- July 26 through August 3.
Saturday, July 26, through Sunday, August 3
Lincoln Park, 1120 40th Street, Rock Island IL
For the fourth straight year, and with company favorite Jacob Lund directing, the Quad Cities' classical-theatre company Genesius Guild will close its summer season with a madcap, somewhat modernized slapstick co-written by Haus of Ruckus founders T. Green and Cal Vo, their adaptation of Aristophanes' ancient-Greek satire Peace running in Rock Island's Lincoln Park June 26 through August 3.
In Aristophanes' Peace, Trygaeus, a middle-aged Athenian, miraculously brings about a peaceful end to the Peloponnesian War, thereby earning the gratitude of farmers while bankrupting various tradesmen who had profited from the hostilities. He celebrates his triumph by marrying Harvest, a companion of Festival and Peace, all of whom he has liberated from a celestial prison. This ancient Greek comedy won second prize at the City Dionysia where it was staged just a few days before the validation of Peace of Nicias, which promised to end the 10-year-old Peloponnesian War, in 421 BC. The play is notable for its joyous anticipation of peace and for its celebration of a return to an idyllic life in the countryside. However, it also sounds a note of caution, there is bitterness in the acknowledgment of lost opportunities, and the ending is not happy for everyone. As in all of Aristophanes' plays, the jokes are numerous, the action is wildly absurd, and the satire is savage. Cleon, the pro-war populist leader of Athens, is once again a target of the author's wit, even though he had died in the Battle of Amphipolis just a few months earlier.
Making his Genesius Guild directing debut with Peace is Jacob Lund, a longtime veteran of the company whose recent Lincoln Park performances include roles in Plutus, Thesmophoriazusae, and this summer's Antony & Cleopatra. Adapting their fourth season-ending comedy in a row for Genesius Guild are fellow company favorites T Green and Cal Vo, the founders of area comedy outfit Haus of Ruckus whose previous Lincoln Park slapsticks were 2022's The Frogs, 2023's The Wasps, and last summer's Plutus. Green and Vo also co-directed and co-starred in Guild's June production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and were castmates in the 2022 presentation of the Bard's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Genesius Guild's Peace will be performed in Rock Island's Lincoln Park July 26 through August 3, with performances Saturdays and Sundays at 7 p.m. Although admission is free, donations are gratefully accepted, and more information is available by visiting Genesius.org.
