AUTHOR'S NOTE: If I were to cast an actress in the role of Lysistrata I think I would choose Kathy Bates. What do you think?
ACT I
– in which Gabrielle gives up on shopping and meets Lysistrata.
Athens was a shadow of its former self.
Slowly, her mouth agape in disbelief, Gabrielle turned one corner after another until she found the street that used to be one of the liveliest and wealthiest of the city. If not for the marble sign bearing the street name she would never have recognized it. The buildings had decayed, and instead of colourful stalls with luxurious goods her eyes found only littered and unswept lanes.
But it was the same city. She recognised the library; even if it was now fighting a losing battle with untamed ivy, it was a building she could never forget. That meant the vegetable market was close by and Gabrielle had noticed a cosy-looking inn adjacent to it during her last visit. Hopefully it would still be there.
Her sense of directions did not disappoint. Soon, the street widened and became a square, but the tumultuous and energetic everyday bargaining of merchants and customers was nowhere to be found. A couple of women in faded clothes were scrutinizing a rather depressing assortment of goods. There were few vegetables to choose from, and they were all in poor condition. Brownish cabbage; carrots that couldn't stand; fruit so overripe they might make you tipsy if you indulged yourself. No one in their right bargaining mind would pay as much as a dinar for the entire collection, but the local women did. Gabrielle watched as one woman handed over a coin in a gesture of resignation while absentmindedly scolding two shabby looking toddlers running around her feet.
The sight was by no means unique. All the women in the square looked tired, almost broken, and their children seemed neglected and undisciplined. In one corner an old toothless man sat cross-legged on the ground, begging. Aside from him, Gabrielle didn't see a single man anywhere.
Fortunately, the inn was still in business. Gabrielle sighed with relief as she entered it and found its interior relatively unchanged by whatever powers that had forced the city to its knees. Numerous candles cast a cosy, flickering light across dark stone tiles and wooden furniture. She had never spent the night here, but shared an excellent meal with Xena in the dining room once, and she hoped the rooms would be equally satisfactory.
"Welcome!"
The sound of a deep and coarse female voice brought her back to the present. She turned around and found the innkeeper greeting her with a wide smile and open arms. Apart from a few thinly worn patches on her dress the woman looked just the way Gabrielle remembered her: tall with an ample bosom and the kind of built-in strength that is crucial when dealing with a bunch of drunken soldiers.
"Food or bed?" the woman asked, to the point.
"Both would be lovely," Gabrielle replied with a smile, grateful that something seemed to have remained the way it used to be after all.
"Marvellous! And you even look like someone who'll pay for it. Decent customers are a rare treat these days, I'll tell you that. And all because of that gods awful war…" The innkeeper grunted and drifted off, but only for a moment; then she put her efficient face back on. "Let me take your bag. Then we'll find you a room, and afterwards you can have a bowlful of my famous stew."
END ACT I
