SOUTH PORTLAND — Mad Horse Theatre Company opens its 30th anniversary season with an audacious production of “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes.

The Greek playwright is known as the father of comedy. Eleven of his 30 plays have survived for more than two millennia virtually intact.

“Lysistrata” is the comic account of one woman’s extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War. It was written as an anti-war play, with the women of Greece vowing to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands as a means of forcing the men to negotiate a peace. This is a play about women discovering the power of their sexuality and using their power to stop a war.

For this production, Aristophanes’ script has been adapted by company member and play director Reba Short.

“I don’t read Greek, but I read several translations to get to the root of what Aristophanes intended, and then I put the line in my own words,” says Short. “I wanted to create a “Lysistrata” that would suit the present without modernizing it. I tried to tailor the play to Mad Horse, the company of actors, the space, and the audience.”

The cast includes Mad Horse Company members Janice Gardner, Shannon Campbell, Allison McCall, Marie Stewart Harmon, Christine Louise Marshall, Burke Brimmer, Mark Rubin, Brent Askari, and Chris Horton. Guest artists are  Christina Klein, Emma Payton Cooper, Lucy B. Sullivan, Elisabeth Hardcastle, Jeffrey Charles Day, Jacob Cote, Kelsey Anderson-Taylor and Johnny Speckman.

The design team includes Jennifer Halm-Perazone, stage and production manager; Stacey Koloski, set design and props; Anna Halloran, costumes; Corey Anderson, lighting designer; Brittany Cook, sound; Scott Leland, graphics; and Stacey Collins, graphics.

Performances are Sept. 24 through Oct. 11 at the Mad Horse Theater in the historic Hutchins School, 24 Mosher St., South Portland. 

Performance times are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. A reception will follow the Sept. 25 performance.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $17 for seniors and students. Every Thursday night is Pay What You Can.