Emersonians and MFA Spin Ancient Greek Satire for Today’s Politics

Assemblywomen, written by Aristophanes in 391 BCE, is a raunchy political and social satire about women from Athens assuming control of the government. A lot of it wouldn’t be received well today.

But Performing Arts Assistant Professor Dana Edell and several Emerson Performing Arts students think Assemblywomen has a certain resonance in our political moment. They have collaborated on an updated take on the play, which will be performed at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston on November 15 and 16.

The production is part of a collaboration between Emerson College and the MFA, and part of the MFA’s Power of the People: Art and Democracy exhibit. This is the second year of the collaboration.

“[When Assemblywomen was performed in ancient Greece] it was a play with male actors playing women, who were playing men for other men to watch,” said Edell.

No longer.

Weeks ago, Edell began rewriting the play with several Emerson College students, adapting it for modern times. The group was betting that Vice President Kamala Harris would win the looming presidential election.

“Our original ending was going to be funny, with a frolic off into the distance, to have women … marching off with an American flag and a silly rock song from the 1980s,” said Edell. “A lot of the jokes we did at the [Monday, November 3] rehearsal were suddenly not funny at all on Wednesday.”

After digesting the election results, Edell reached out to the team.  

“I’ve got amazing, very smart performers,” said Edell. “I told them we have an incredible opportunity to use performance as an actual tool, to speak our truth, and use satire to poke at power. … Satire is at its best when it isn’t just surface jokey jokes, but exposing ruptures in the world.”

Out went jokes about the electoral college and the popular vote, as well as Pennsylvania. In came a bit about Russian-linked phones calling in bomb threats to polling stations. There are now jokes about a felon holding the highest office in our government.

Edell said the group is also aware that millions of people are celebrating the election results. They don’t know what will land with their audience in a very unique space. The play will be performed in a gallery where museum visitors are coming and going with general admission.

Phoebe Segal, Mary Bryce Comstock Curator of Greek and Roman Art at the MFA, was excited about the museum partnering with Emerson College. Segal and Edell chose Assemblywomen because it’s hilarious, and also relevant to the museum’s current exhibition, as it addresses the intersection of politics, gender, and art, said Segal.

“The dramatic and visual arts are deeply complementary, and performances that take place in museum galleries bring the art to life and create memorable experiences for visitors by inviting them to be present to the moment,” said Segal.

Navigating the physical space of a gallery with very valuable art was a performing experience like none other, said Jada Murphy ’25, who also performed in last year’s production.

“We had to create our paths, and because there is art and sculptures, if you went the wrong way, you might knock something down. So, you also have that fear,” said Murphy. “We had some near misses.”

Rounding out the cast with Murphy are Lucy Moore ’27, Punchhi Pandit ‘25, and Xandria Bao ’28, with costume design by Sidra Sundberg ’28. Murphy said this year’s production is very interactive, incorporating improv and vamping more off the audience.

“I think about comedy and improv as everyday life. We’re all living improv. We don’t have a script,” said Murphy. “I feel like vamping is another level of that, as it’s reading the room, the scene, and the people.”

Assistant Director Joye Prince, MA ’25 worked on last year’s collaboration with the MFA in the same role, and relished the opportunity to work with Edell again.

“I really appreciate [Edell’s leadership] of a project, taking something ancient and really pulling it apart in rehearsal and playing to turn it towards social justice storytelling,” said Prince.

“We’re making sure the actors really own the show when something needs to be changed so that it’s not scary,” said Prince. “We’re bringing in improv, audience engagement, and we’re leaving space to react to the audience and the exhibit.”

Before the presidential election, Prince reflected on the play’s plot of women dressing up as men to usurp the government.

“Especially as a queer person, I’m really excited to navigate the nuance in this play. What are the statements we’re making that’s underneath the text with how we execute it?” said Prince. “We’re really not playing into the binary the same way. We’re really playing with a much queerer understanding of gender and gender expansiveness.”

Edell said they deliberately adapted the production to play with gender as it relates to democracy, to question who and why people have power. Each performer essentially created two characters: the woman, and the man speaking up at the assembly. The costumes are influenced by ancient Greek styles, said Edell.

“There are different masculine characters who are intentionally stereotypical tropes, like the frat bro, who is a player and suave character,” said Edell. “It’s very different from ancient Greece, because there weren’t frat bros carrying a lacrosse stick in ancient Greece.”

Murphy ’25 chose Policita for her character’s name because the English word politics derives from Politiká.

“She is one of the ring leaders, but more of a subtle ringleader. She tells it how it is. She says things like they’re common knowledge, but can be a little rude about it,” said Murphy. “But she’s usually informative, so people know why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

The team always worked with a central theme, said Murphy. She said that had Harris won, the play could’ve reemphasized women empowerment, and because she lost, it’s that more women need to be in power.

“Our main story is women would be better in politics, and that’s the whole struggle,” said Murphy.

Aristophanes’s Assemblywomen is being performed three times at the Museum of Fine Arts on November 15 and 16. The play is viewable with general admission.