PUTNEY — Resistance by individuals and groups has a long and varied history.
Aristophanes wrote the play Lysistrata, in which women used sex as a weapon against war.
The French and British resisted tyranny. So did Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Henry David Thoreau, Rosa Parks, and Woody Guthrie.
On Friday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m., Next Stage Arts presents a program on Resistance as part of its literary series, Next Stage Speaks. Suggested donation is $10.
Featured speakers are scholar Rai d'Honore, author Mary Fillmore, writer Elayne Clift, and Vermont Poet Laureate Chard deNiord.
Rai d'Honore, who teaches a course on Resistance to Tyranny, will share her knowledge of resistance through Greek drama and the example of little-known medieval Occitania, a region of southern France, unique in the 11th to 13th centuries for its egalitarianism.
Mary Fillmore, author of the award-winning historical novel An Address in Amsterdam, will read from her book and share lessons learned from the Dutch resistance to the Nazis. Fillmore, who researched the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands for 13 years, both honors the resistance and reveals how few people were in it.
Elayne Clift, writer and activist, will speak about resistance through various literary genres and will read examples from her novel, Hester's Daughters. Chard deNiord will share a reading of resistance poetry.
Audience discussion will follow the presentations. Putney Huddle and Love Brigade will be on hand and Sister District will offer a soup tasting in the Next Stage Lobby.
In a news release, organizers wrote, “In a time when raising our voices seems increasingly urgent, understanding the lessons of history becomes necessary, along with valuing literary works that give our voices strength.”