Orange County is home to two Shakespeare companies – one that’s fairly well-known, one that isn’t.
Shakespeare Orange County is the more well-established and has a history that stretches back to 1991 and saw its demise in 2018 (see the sidebar). SOC’s sibling is not only younger, it has labored, more or less, in obscurity. Many theater fans and even those devoted to Shakespeare have likely not heard of it.
That company is New Swan. This is a notable year on two counts: The company reopened after more than two years of pandemic-imposed closure, and it’s celebrating its 10th anniversary.
New Swan’s home base is on the University of California, Irvine campus, and its performing space is anything but conventional – a modular, spherical structure that weighs 16 tons, about the same weight as a small military tank. Design-wise, the theater is a miniature version of a classic Elizabethan theater-in-the-round venue.
At the start of summer, with each new season, the structure’s modular units are rolled out of storage, moved to Gateway Plaza, and assembled into a 135-seat theater. During the first week of September, the New Swan Theater is then dismantled and placed back into storage.
