Swine Palace
Encyclopedia
Swine Palace is a non-profit professional theatre
company associated with the Louisiana State University
Department of Theatre in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
.
and the innovative exploration of classic and contemporary theatre, Swine Palace strives to have a significant impact on the cultural
and economic
landscape of Louisiana.
and an important center for theatre education
. Swine Palace was founded in 1992 by Barry Kyle (former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
’s Swan Theatre
) in association with LSU Department of Theatre with the goal to become Louisiana's premier professional theatre.
However, the first play presented in Swine Palace was an LSU Theatre student production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, during the spring of 1973.
In 1992, an historic livestock judging pavilion
on the campus
of LSU was identified as the future home of the company, and a capital
campaign to raise $3.5 million for the renovation of the structure was undertaken. The offspring of a public/private partnership
, the 500-seat flexible theatre
opened during the 1999-2000 Season, funded by the State of Louisiana and a generous grant
from the Reilly Family of Baton Rouge, for whom it was named The Reilly Theatre. The Reilly has been designed to maintain the architectural
integrity of its earthy origins as one of the oldest buildings on LSU’s campus.
Artistically the company made immediate impact with important world premiere
adaptations of A Confederacy of Dunces
and All the King's Men
. In recent years, Swine Palace has become recognized for community outreach as well as its artistic excellence and was awarded the Baton Rouge YWCA
's 2006 Racial Justice Award for its many programs. These program initiatives have been produced in conjunction with socially relevant works like Fences, The Laramie Project
, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
, and The Exonerated.
During the spring of 2007, Swine Palace (in conjunction with the LSU Performing Arts Series and Ping Chong
and Company) produced the world premiere of renowned theatre director Ping Chong's Cocktail written by Vince LiCata and Ping Chong. Based on the true struggles of Thai
scientist
Krisana Kraisintu, this play
follows the struggle to create an affordable version of the anti-HIV
drug AZT
for the thousands of Thai AIDS
patients.
In June 2007, LSU Theatre and Swine Palace embarked on the first-ever international tour performing Wendy Wasserstein's "The Heidi Chronicles" directed by Michael Tick at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre and the Beijing Central Academy of Drama. As such, they were the first theatre company to perform Ms. Wassersteins's work in China, and one of only a handful of U.S. companies to perform at either of these prestigious institutions.
The China tour was conceived as part of LSU's University-wide China initiative and included five performances at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, the largest performing arts institution in Shanghai, and three performances at the Beijing Central Academy of Drama, one of the finest academies in Asia. The play was originally performed as part of Swine Palace's 2006-2007 season. In total, 31 people made the month-long trip, including 15 undergraduates and graduate students; six faculty members and a number of friends and family.
In recognition of Swine Palace's many accomplishments, it was awarded the 2006 Governor's Arts Award for Large Arts Organizations.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
company associated with the Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
Department of Theatre in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Mission
Through the presentation of celebrated works of Southern literatureSouthern literature
Southern literature is defined as American literature about the Southern United States or by writers from this region...
and the innovative exploration of classic and contemporary theatre, Swine Palace strives to have a significant impact on the cultural
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and economic
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
landscape of Louisiana.
History
Under the leadership of LSU Theatre Interim Chair and Managing Director Kristin Sosnowsky and Interim Artistic Director George Judy, Swine Palace is a leading voice in Louisiana artsARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
and an important center for theatre education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
. Swine Palace was founded in 1992 by Barry Kyle (former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
’s Swan Theatre
Swan Theatre (Stratford)
The Swan Theatre is a theatre belonging to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is built on to the side of the larger Royal Shakespeare Theatre, occupying the Victorian Gothic structure that formerly housed the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre that preceded the RST but was...
) in association with LSU Department of Theatre with the goal to become Louisiana's premier professional theatre.
However, the first play presented in Swine Palace was an LSU Theatre student production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, during the spring of 1973.
In 1992, an historic livestock judging pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
on the campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
of LSU was identified as the future home of the company, and a capital
Financial capital
Financial capital can refer to money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation, i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc....
campaign to raise $3.5 million for the renovation of the structure was undertaken. The offspring of a public/private partnership
Public-private partnership
Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
, the 500-seat flexible theatre
Theater (structure)
A theater or theatre is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance , a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces...
opened during the 1999-2000 Season, funded by the State of Louisiana and a generous grant
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
from the Reilly Family of Baton Rouge, for whom it was named The Reilly Theatre. The Reilly has been designed to maintain the architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
integrity of its earthy origins as one of the oldest buildings on LSU’s campus.
Artistically the company made immediate impact with important world premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
adaptations of A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel written by John Kennedy Toole, published by LSU Press in 1980, 11 years after the author's suicide. The book was published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy and Toole's mother Thelma Toole, quickly becoming a cult classic, and later a...
and All the King's Men
All the King's Men
All the King's Men is a novel by Robert Penn Warren first published in 1946. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. In 1947 Warren won the Pulitzer Prize for All the King's Men....
. In recent years, Swine Palace has become recognized for community outreach as well as its artistic excellence and was awarded the Baton Rouge YWCA
YWCA
The YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
's 2006 Racial Justice Award for its many programs. These program initiatives have been produced in conjunction with socially relevant works like Fences, The Laramie Project
The Laramie Project
The Laramie Project is a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie,...
, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a 1982 play - one of the ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle by August Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright - that chronicles the twentieth century African American experience...
, and The Exonerated.
During the spring of 2007, Swine Palace (in conjunction with the LSU Performing Arts Series and Ping Chong
Ping Chong
Ping Chong is an American contemporary theater director, choreographer, video and installation artist. He was born in Toronto and raised in the Chinatown section of New York City...
and Company) produced the world premiere of renowned theatre director Ping Chong's Cocktail written by Vince LiCata and Ping Chong. Based on the true struggles of Thai
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
Krisana Kraisintu, this play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
follows the struggle to create an affordable version of the anti-HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
drug AZT
Zidovudine
Zidovudine or azidothymidine is a nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitor , a type of antiretroviral drug used for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. It is an analog of thymidine....
for the thousands of Thai AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
patients.
In June 2007, LSU Theatre and Swine Palace embarked on the first-ever international tour performing Wendy Wasserstein's "The Heidi Chronicles" directed by Michael Tick at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre and the Beijing Central Academy of Drama. As such, they were the first theatre company to perform Ms. Wassersteins's work in China, and one of only a handful of U.S. companies to perform at either of these prestigious institutions.
The China tour was conceived as part of LSU's University-wide China initiative and included five performances at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, the largest performing arts institution in Shanghai, and three performances at the Beijing Central Academy of Drama, one of the finest academies in Asia. The play was originally performed as part of Swine Palace's 2006-2007 season. In total, 31 people made the month-long trip, including 15 undergraduates and graduate students; six faculty members and a number of friends and family.
In recognition of Swine Palace's many accomplishments, it was awarded the 2006 Governor's Arts Award for Large Arts Organizations.
Production history
| Season | Play | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2010-2011 | The Metal Children | Joanna Battles |
| King Lear | Deb Alley | |
| Design for Living | George Judy | |
| 2009-2010 | Self Defense (or death of some salesmen) | Joanna Battles |
| A Doll's House | George Judy | |
| The Royal Family | John Dennis | |
| 2008-2009 | Love's Labour's Lost | George Judy |
| Satellites | Michael Tick | |
| Disney's High School Musical on Stage! | Paula Sloan | |
| 2007-2008 | Hair | Steve Young |
| Speak Truth to Power | Michael Tick | |
| King Hedley II | Joy Vandervort-Cobb | |
| 2006-2007 | Cocktail | Ping Chong |
| The Heidi Chronicles | Michael Tick | |
| Metamorphoses | Steve Young | |
| 2005-2006 | Always...Patsy Cline | Jennifer Jones-Cavenaugh |
| She Stoops to Conquer | Jane Page | |
| Tennessee Williams in QUARTER Time | John Dennis | |
| Arms and the Man | Jane Brody | |
| 2004-2005 | Pump Boys and Dinettes | Jennifer Jones-Cavenaugh |
| You Can't Take It With You | John Dennis | |
| The Exonerated | Michael Tick | |
| Macbeth | Leon Ingulsrud | |
| 2003-2004 | Always...Patsy Cline | Jennifer Jones-Cavenaugh |
| The Laramie Project | Leon Ingulsrud | |
| Shiloh Rules | John Dennis | |
| "Ma" Rainey's Black Bottom | Joy Vandevort-Cobb | |
| 2002-2003 | The Louisiana Purchase | Dom Ruggiero |
| The Two Gentlemen of Verona | John Dennis | |
| Fences | Joy Vandevort-Cobb | |
| 2001-2002 | Death of a Salesman | Leon Ingulsrud |
| A Christmas Carol | John Dennis | |
| The Tavern | Edward Morgan | |
| 2000-2001 | To Kill A Mockingbird | Vastine Stabler |
| Jesus Christ Superstar | Barry Kyle | |
| Romeo and Juliet | Tina Packer | |
| 1999-2000 | Waiting for Godot | Barry Kyle |
| Three Sisters | Barry Kyle | |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | Barry Kyle | |
| Gumbo Ya-Ya | Barry Kyle | |
| Four Joans and a Fire-eater | Barry Kyle | |
| 1998-1999 | Angels in America, Part II: Perestroika | Barry Kyle |
| Gloria Duplex | Barry Kyle | |
| As I lay Dying | Edward Kemp | |
| 1997-1998 | Pump Boys and Dinettes | Barry Kyle |
| Angels in America, Part I: The Millennium Approaches | Barry Kyle | |
| Skylight | Barry Kyle | |
| The Merchant of Venice | Barry Kyle | |
| 1996-1997 | A Confederacy of Dunces | Barry Kyle |
| Flesh & Blood | Barry Kyle | |
| The Rocky Horror Show | Barry Kyle | |
| Suburbia | Barry Kyle | |
| Geniuses | Steven Soderbergh | |
| 1995-1996 | The Kingfish | Andrew Dickey |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | Barry Kyle | |
| The Cure at Troy | Barry Kyle | |
| The Rocky Horror Show | Barry Kyle & Lisa McEwan | |
| From the Mississippi Delta | Trellis Steptor | |
| 1994-1995 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Barry Kyle |
| Keely & Du | Barry Kyle & Lucy Maycock | |
| Tent Meeting | Barry Kyle & C.C. Courtney | |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | Barry Kyle | |
| A Child's Christmas in Wales | Barry Kyle & Lisa McEwen | |
| 1993-1994 | A Confederacy of Dunces | Barry Kyle |
| Good | Barry Kyle | |
| 1992-1993 | All the King's Men | Barry Kyle |
| The Hypocrite | Barry Kyle |