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In the Greek myth “Leda and the Swan,” beautiful queen Leda is seduced — or in some interpretations raped — by the god Zeus disguised as a swan. The strange union births Helen of Troy, inadvertent catalyst of the Trojan War, and her sister Clytemnestra, who kills husband Agamemnon for sacrificing their daughter.
Loosely based on this myth but set in Nebraska is Elizabeth Egloff’s 1989 play “The Swan,” beginning this weekend at The Garage Theatre.
In the play, Dora is a lonely nurse who suffered three failed marriages and is now settling for an affair with married milkman Kevin. Then one night, a wild swan crashes through her window.
The swan starts transforming into a man the next day, and Dora’s relationship with him grows to become “otherworldly,” according to the theater, with unsettling consequences for Dora and her surrounding community.
The theater says the play is “at times hilarious and at times heart wrenching,” asking “How can you choose when caught between the earthly and the divine?”
Directed by Garage veteran Rory Cowan, “The Swan” continues the theater’s season of supernatural stories, including “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord,” this one exploring “love, longing, loyalty and heartache.”
A 1992 review of the West Coast premiere of the play called it “a modern fable with unusual twists,” evoking “the metaphysical essence of love itself.”
The Garage says its production of the play will be a “wonder to behold.”
“This is a story of the magic of true love, that feeling of being seen for who we are, and who we truly dream we could be,” the theater says. “The story speaks to our animal instincts and desires, as well as honoring the struggle in what it means to be human.”
“The Swan” runs from Aug. 21 to 29 and Sept. 10 to 26 at The Garage Theatre, 251 E. Seventh Street, Long Beach, with shows Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Thursday tickets are two for the price of one. For tickets, visit TheGarageTheatre.org or the theater’s box office 30 minutes prior to each show. Run time is 90 minutes with no intermission.