“The Swan”: Hyping the transformative possibilities of love

When it comes to men, Dora (Whitney Ellis) is accommodating to a fault. Married milkman Kevin (Matthew Anderson) is merely the latest in a long line of users and losers. Then one day a swan crashes against her window. As she nurses it back to health, it transmogrifies into a man, though retaining some cygnine essence. She calls him Bill (Nick Napoli), and together they learn an entirely new way to love.

Although supposedly playwright Elizabeth Egloff based The Swan on the Greek legend of Leda and the Swan, the connection is a red herring. Yes, both have a woman being visited by and having some sort of carnal relations with a swan that is more than simply avian — but there endeth the parallels. The Swan is one of those works of art that functions partly on a level of pointing in certain directions leaving it to the consumer to fill in the blanks. Although plenty of people are okay with this, some of us prefer a more definitive approach. If The Swan does have anything specific to say, it’s something along the lines of: Real love is where you and the other meet each other halfway.

In his director’s notes, Rory Cowan indicates that while he’s fine with the audience’s “layer[ing] in their own interpretations,” his “focus [is] on the characters’ emotional experiences [and] unearthing [the play’s] humor.” With a cast of just three, The Swan is heavy lifting for the actors, all three of whom are called upon to range from high drama to low humor, quiet intimacy to loud absurdisms. While everyone is good in their gentler moments, too often the males turn the amp up to 11 and leave it there. To be sure, the script gives plenty of opportunities for going over the top — and often the cast is effective here; but pegging the meter so consistently flattens the overall dynamics.

As with the Garage’s last show, a lot of scene changes don’t work. Plus, during the performance I attended, props were sometimes placed curiously and inconveniently, leaving the actors to fuss with them in ways that I presume we were supposed to ignore despite the fact that the lights were up and the scene underway. I don’t know whether they just had an off night on this front or are relying too much on the audience’s suspension of disbelief in lieu of creative problem-solving. Along those lines, the opening swan-crash into the window doesn’t come off, resulting in confusion about what’s transpired until a bit of exposition clears it up.

But otherwise, this is a good-looking show. Despite the fact that the action is confined to Dora’s small house, Emily Formentini (in her first set design for the Garage?) has given the cast a great sandbox to play in, which McLeod Benson bathes in some unexpected hues; and the action climaxes in a lovely tableau.

The Swan at the Garage Theatre
Times: Thursday–Saturday 8:00 p.m.
The show runs through September 26.
Cost: $23–$28 (Thursdays 2-for-1); closing night w/afterparty: $40
Details: thegaragetheatre.org
Venue: The Garage Theatre, 251 E. 7th St., Long Beach