{"id":89694,"date":"2026-08-20T11:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T18:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=89694"},"modified":"2026-08-20T11:35:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T18:35:37","slug":"theater-news-the-garage-theatre-continues-its-supernatural-season-with-unusual-love-story-the-swan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/eat-see-do-2\/see\/theater-news-the-garage-theatre-continues-its-supernatural-season-with-unusual-love-story-the-swan","title":{"rendered":"Theater News: The Garage Theatre continues its supernatural season with unusual love story \u2018The Swan\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or\u00a0sign up<\/a>\u00a0for our Eat. See. Do. newsletter to get it in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Greek myth \u201cLeda and the Swan,\u201d beautiful queen Leda is seduced \u2014 or in some interpretations raped<\/a> \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loosely based on this myth but set in Nebraska is Elizabeth Egloff\u2019s 1989 play \u201cThe Swan,\u201d beginning this weekend at The Garage Theatre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A promotional image for The Garage Theatre’s “The Swan.” <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The swan starts transforming into a man the next day, and Dora\u2019s relationship with him grows to become \u201cotherworldly,\u201d according to the theater, with unsettling consequences for Dora and her surrounding community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The theater says the play is \u201cat times hilarious and at times heart wrenching,\u201d asking \u201cHow can you choose when caught between the earthly and the divine?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directed by Garage veteran Rory Cowan, \u201cThe Swan\u201d continues the theater\u2019s season of supernatural stories, including \u201cOur Dear Dead Drug Lord<\/a>,\u201d this one exploring \u201clove, longing, loyalty and heartache.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A 1992 review of the West Coast premiere of the play called<\/a> it \u201ca modern fable with unusual twists,\u201d evoking \u201cthe metaphysical essence of love itself.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Garage says its production of the play will be a \u201cwonder to behold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d the theater says. \u201cThe story speaks to our animal instincts and desires, as well as honoring the struggle in what it means to be human.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Swan\u201d 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 <\/em>TheGarageTheatre.org<\/em><\/a> or the theater\u2019s box office 30 minutes prior to each show. Run time is 90 minutes with no intermission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s \u201ca modern fable with unusual twists,\u201d evoking \u201cthe metaphysical essence of love itself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":89697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"hidden","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32366],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-89694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-see","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89694"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89700,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89694\/revisions\/89700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89694"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=89694"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=89694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}