New Swan Theater

The New Swan Theater is an outdoor, portable theater that is assembled and disassembled each summer as part of New Swan Shakespeare Festival[1], the annual Shakespeare festival at the University of California, Irvine. It is a reduced-size replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Construction

It was designed and constructed by the in-house faculty and staff of UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA), and opened in Summer 2012 for its first New Swan Summer Shakespeare Festival.[2]

The New Swan Theater is constructed of 15 modular units, each weighing one ton. The units are "portable" and transportable, allowing the theater to be assembled in a variety of indoor and outdoor locations.[3] When not in use, the units are stored in the CTSA Production Studios. A couple months before the Festival's start, the units are moved to their outdoor location at the University's Gateway Commons.[4] Equipment and personnel needed to move the modular units are 2 18-wheel trucks 2 forklifts, 1 truck with crane, and a 12-person crew. Every year, the theater must be constructed from the ground up, including all electrical wiring, lighting and seating. Construction must pass several inspections before it is ready to welcome patrons.

The New Swan is styled as a mini-Elizabethan theater, and it is constructed of recycled materials.[5] It is roof-less, allowing al fresco seating on warm Southern California nights. The modular design provides flexible staging options, and it consists of two tiers of seats for 127 patrons on groundling, mezzanine and balcony levels. Each seat is close to the stage, enabling the audience to see, hear and feel the actors' thoughts and emotions in an intimate setting.[6]

Performances

The theater was first used in February 2012 when it was installed on the stage of the school's Claire Trevor Theatre for performances of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. The New Swan's first outdoor usage was in August 2012 when it was first transported to Gateway Commons for performances of The Comedy of Errors and The Merchant of Venice.[7]

For the second season of the New Swan Shakespeare Festival, in 2013, King Lear and A Midsummer Night's Dream sharing the stage during August. In September, The Fantasticks was performed.[8] In 2013 the Claire Trevor School of the Arts was presented with an Orange County Arts Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Built Environment.[9]

The New Swan's third season in 2014 included performances of Twelfth Night[10] and Romeo and Juliet.[4] Its fourth season in 2015 included performances of Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing.[11] Its fifth season in 2016 included performances of Hamlet and As You Like It.[12][13] Its sixth season in 2017 included performances of The Tempest and The Taming of the Shrew.[14][15][16]

References

  1. ↑ "New Swan Shakespeare Festival website"
  2. ↑ Hodgins, Paul (August 26, 2012), "Long-awaited theater finally rises on UC Irvine campus", Orange County Register
  3. ↑ Okwuosa, Fallon, UC Irvine's School of Arts Moves 15-Ton Theatre For Shakespeare Festival, News 4 Southern California
  4. 1 2 "New Swan Shakespeare Festival returns to UC Irvine", Orange County Register, July 7, 2014
  5. ↑ Miller, Michael (June 19, 2013), "Stage must rise before curtain", Daily Pilot
  6. ↑ O'Connor, Sarah (August 15, 2014), "New Swan's 'Romeo & Juliet' is to Die For", New University
  7. ↑ Jow, Lauren (July 21, 2012), "Shakespeare Under the Stars to open at UC Irvine", Orange County Register
  8. ↑ Iliff, Anna (June 21, 2013), "'Intimate' Shakespearian experience at New Swan", Orange County Register
  9. ↑ "State Arts Council Gets an Earful at Listening Tour Stop in OC". Arts Orange County.
  10. ↑ Beers, Joel (August 7, 2014), "A Tale of Two Shakespeares", OC Weekly
  11. ↑ Titus, Tom (July 2, 2015), "On Theater: UCI bringing Shakespeare into modern age", Daily Pilot, Los Angeles Times
  12. ↑ Titus, Tom (July 7, 2016), "On Theater: UCI brushing up its Shakespeare", Daily Pilot, Los Angeles Times
  13. ↑ Marchese, Eric (August 11, 2016), "New time and place make 'As You Like It' sparkle", Orange County Register
  14. ↑ Titus, Tom (June 29, 2017), "On Theater: UCI's sixth New Swan Theater festival will feature 'Tempest' and 'Shrew'", Daily Pilot, Los Angeles Times
  15. ↑ Marchese, Eric (August 8, 2017), "'Tempest' in Irvine sweeps us to a land where magic is the norm", Orange County Register
  16. ↑ Marchese, Eric (August 1, 2017), "In Irvine, 'Shrew' pits rebel '70s against conformist '80s", Orange County Register

Coordinates: 33°38′41″N 117°50′34″W / 33.64472°N 117.8428°W / 33.64472; -117.8428

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