Covid Statement
Due to Covid-19 restrictions we were forced to cancel our 2020 season – Julius Caesar and The Comedy of Errors. The safety of our audience and company continues to be our primary concern, so we need to see what the future brings in terms of the pandemic. If it isn’t safe to gather in the New Swan Theater this coming summer, we will try to produce live theater in a different way. And we will continue creating New Swan films, and hosting seminars and educational events online. We will update you on our production decisions as the summer approaches. Please stay safe and be well.
Covid Statement
Due to Covid-19 restrictions we were forced to cancel our 2020 season – Julius Caesar and The Comedy of Errors. The safety of our audience and company continues to be our primary concern, so we need to see what the future brings in terms of the pandemic. If it isn’t safe to gather in the New Swan Theater this coming summer, we will try to produce live theater in a different way. And we will continue creating New Swan films, and hosting seminars and educational events online. We will update you on our production decisions as the summer approaches. Please stay safe and be well.
“Et tu, Brute?”
—Caesar
UC Shakespeare Trial 2021: Et tu, Brute?
Tuesday March 9, 5:00pm PST
At the heart of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is the decision of Brutus to join the conspirators in the assassination of Julius Caesar. This man had been his friend and mentor, but his bold actions threatened to turn the Roman republic into a government ruled by a dictator, contrary to Rome’s constitutional history. What do you think Brutus should have done?
In the UC Shakespeare Trial 2021:
- Brutus is on trial for treason and murder.
- Bernadette Meyler ’06 (Stanford Law) will mount the defense.
- Erwin Chemerinsky (Berkeley Law) will prosecute.
- The Honorable Andrew Guilford will preside.
- You, the audience, are the jury in this interactive theater event. Was the act performed by Brutus and his fellow senators murder, or was it justifiable homicide? Should Brutus be acquitted, or should he be found guilty for his deed?
Your hosts are Eli Simon and Julia Lupton, co-directors of the New Swan Shakespeare Center. The evening will begin with scenes from the play, performed by actors from New Swan Shakespeare Festival, directed by Beth Lopes.
This event is co-sponsored by UC Irvine’s New Swan Shakespeare Center, Illuminations: The Chancellor’s Arts and Culture Initiative, UCI Law, Berkeley Law, and Stanford Law. Free and open to all. Donation recommended. Registration required.
WATCH NOW: HISTORY OF NEW SWAN
“Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who prologue-like your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our plays.”
– Chorus, Henry V
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players:
they have their exits and their entrances;
and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”
Seminars &
Education
- Seminar Series
- Community Conversations
- Shakespeare Weekend
- Friday Folios Series
- Apprentice Program
Load-In Video
- 16-ton movable, 130 seat, mini-Elizabethan theater.
- Every seat is very close to the action.
- Winner of Arts Orange County Award 2013: Outstanding Contribution to the Built Environment.
Diversity
Statement
At New Swan, our productions include people with a variance of backgrounds and experiences, celebrating each individual both on stage and off. We allow our differences to affect our productions, manifesting richer and deeper stories. Theater without diversity is meaningless, and diversity without equity is an empty promise.
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Support
- Early Ticket Purchase and many more benefits
- Name a Seat
- Sponsor an Actor
- Become an Honorary Producer
in collaboration with
New Swan Shakespeare Festival is hosted and produced in collaboration with the Drama Department at the University of California at Irvine, the Office of Research, the Claire Trever School of the Arts, and the School of Humanities.
