Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurie Swigart.
Hi Laurie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Having graduated from college with a BSE in Special Education, I assumed my performing arts would be limited to a classroom. However, through a series of unplanned encounters, I found myself as the color guard director at a high school in western Wisconsin which led to extensive involvement in the music department as an accompanist for choirs and solo/ensemble events for both band and choir.
I was approached one fateful day by the choir director who was desperate for a customer for the fall musical, “The King and I.” “Can you sew?” was the leading question to which I replied, “Well, I have, but…” Quickly interrupting, he told me of his plight – his usual customer had just told him of her unavailability for this year’s show. I’d never designed nor built a show before – and only had performed in five productions previously – but I gamely took on the challenge, and that decision changed the trajectory of my life. Twenty years later I had directed around 45 shows and impacted the lives of hundreds of students who found their niche, their community in my program. This eventually led to me starting Upstage Review Theatre Company, a non-profit youth theatre organization that drew students from five neighboring school districts.
I always told my music colleagues how fortunate we were in our career choices: Coaches in athletics deal primarily with developing the body’s physical capabilities. Classroom teachers had the opportunity to broaden the intellect in the minds of their students. Music and theatre directors, however, have the exquisite opportunity to work at the soul level of their members, digging into and utilizing emotion to explore the depths of musical composition and the intense characterization needed to effectively create the believable world of a script upon a stage. I count it as a huge blessing – and honor- to have been trusted at this level by hundreds of teenagers who discovered what great things they were capable of as we explored the stories created by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Larry Shue, Moliere, and Shakespeare.
My theatre work with these students also provided a vehicle to share my faith with hurting kids, loving them and shining hope into their often-dark lives with the love I have received from Jesus. It was a wonderful, though often extremely difficult time, as I saw many lives changed for the better through involvement in my program. I can look at my scrapbook of shows and point to at least one student in each whose life was impacted by the agape love of God. Most are thriving to this day, and many have been, and still are, involved in full-time ministry of one sort or another.
Unfortunately, the source of my greatest joy became the source of my greatest pain to date. I lived in a town that was very religious, very traditional, and more interested in a form of religion than in the relationship with Jesus that I lived for. As a result, I twice had my contract removed either because I talked about Jesus or “might” do so.
It was hard, but “they” were not entirely at fault as, through the dark valley, I learned that: 1. I had some character flaws that needed to be dealt with, and 2. God did not want to share the throne with theatre which had become my idol. So, I spent a dormant time, a time of pruning, in which I learned lessons I needed to learn for the “next thing.” Part of that process involved returning to school to obtain a BA in Theatre Arts. Thankfully, my years of experience meant the waiver of all directing and acting courses, so I was able instead to focus on the technical design aspects of doing theatre, skills that I use to this day (and would have been very handy in costuming “The King and I,”
My husband thought a move to the Twin Cities where our children were beginning to settle after attending college there would bring on the “next thing”. Unfortunately, I was still running ahead of God, beckoning Him to hurry up and follow me to the next great idea I was concocting. Although I did have several opportunities to practice my craft with several different theatre companies in the East Metro, things didn’t pan out theatre-wise as I’d hoped. In the Cities it isn’t what you know that gets you a job; it’s who you know, and I had a significant lack of contacts. What to do…
To work in a college or university, one needs a Master’s degree and often needs to be published to even get a resume looked at. I had neither. The next step then was to achieve an MA. But what kind… After directing for nearly 30 years, I didn’t think I needed further study in that regard. Shakespeare! I’d seen most of his plays while volunteering at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, WI. I knew a bit about Shakespeare, right? So I set about looking for a Masters program.
At the time, there were no Master’s programs in Shakespeare in all of the US, so I set my sights abroad and came across an MA in Shakespeare and Theatre at The Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK. I applied, and, to my surprise, was accepted. I soon found myself – the arrogant American who thought she knew a thing or two about Shakespeare – embarking upon a humbling journey of finding out how much I did NOT know about Shakespeare, primarily from a performance perspective.
Suffice it to say that I started below ground zero with this two-year course of study, climbing uphill in what turned out to be a wonderful exploration of how Shakespeare wrote his text not only as spectacular poetry but also in a format that told the actors in his company how to perform that poetry. Mind-blowing, exciting, challenging, and fulfilling: I found out that you can teach an old dog new tricks. My capstone project was a paper documenting the learning curve of the huge amount of information I learned along the way, specifically why and how Shakespeare wrote his plays to be seen and heard, NOT just read in the literary fashion as is the custom in the US.
This turned into to ten years of research and writing evolving into the present and the recent completion of my book, “Performance Approaches to Shakespeare.” This is a 364-page compilation of what I learned in the hopes of being able to encourage and motivate teachers and directors more or less inexperienced in why and how Shakespeare wrote what he did, who are faced with the daunting prospect of encountering Shakespeare in their curriculum or their drama season.
One endorsement I received states: “Swigart demonstrates a more authentic method of teaching or directing Shakespeare that is closer to original practice than the simple literary sty of teaching found in most American curriculums.” Within the covers of this book, one will find history, practical explanations, multitudes of helpful references, and extensive exercises, enabling teachers and directors to discover helpful skills that can dispel the fear of this subject matter. I hope that every teacher and director will experience the same excitement and joy of discovery as they walk step-by-step through this enlightening process.
Understanding that the demographic niche for this book is a very narrow one, I have been working hard to make one-on-one contacts with English and drama teachers at the homeschool, middle, high, and post-secondary school levels in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I believe that this book could be an extraordinary contributor to any English/drama curriculum. I’m also reaching out to theatre companies in the Cities in the hopes of eventually doing workshops for their patrons (Shakespeare experts and novices alike) as well as for their youth programs.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The community I lived in was all about football, hunting, and beer. I have often called it the cultural armpit of America which may be unfair. However, based on the lack of support the arts got in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, this descriptor is, sadly, more than accurate.
My company did not have a home, so we performed in church basements and sanctuaries as well as abandoned used car garages. Rehearsals were held in the unheated basement of the American Legion which was formerly a strip club. Our costume and prop stock were also stored there.
I did my utmost best when creating rehearsal schedules to accommodate the music and athletic departments to ensure that there was as little overlap as possible and to enable busy students to be involved and experience as much as possible during their high school careers.
From time to time we were able access the local high school stage. My “office” was one of the dressing rooms onstage. There was no telephone. In the case of an emergency, I had to unlock three other doors to get to a phone to call for help (all of our rehearsals were in the evening). I begged and begged to have a phone put backstage and finally got the principal to agree. The timing turned out to be uncannily providential – just before the mass school shooting in Columbine, CO, We were rehearsing our summer musical at that time, and one of the cast members who had a reputation for difficult behavior made a very derogatory and frightening comment to another cast member who got very scared.
One thing led to another and hysteria ensued backstage. When I was informed about what was going on, I began to quietly excuse the cast, insisting they leave the building immediately. At the same time, things were escalating in the main hall as the perpetrator’s temper grew worse after being verbally attacked by some of the others. Eventually, all I had left was my daughter who played the part of Millie, and the seven guys playing the brothers. I ushered them into my office, away from the door, and called the principal to explain the situation and ask for help. We did not know if that person had what would have been necessary to follow through with his very angry threats.
The situation was de-escalated by the arrival of the police. In the meantime, I issued a challenge to the eight young people safely tucked away in a corner of my office: “We have a choice before us. We can ostracize this person, or we can reach out. I challenge you tomorrow to do the latter. Express concern about that person and make sure that it is understood that this is a welcoming and forgiving place.”
The next day all eight of them reported back that they had done as I asked and reported the result, often with tears in their eyes. That kid’s life was changed after receiving genuine doses of agape love for the very first time.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What sets me apart?
1. My philosophy of excellence – I always tell my casts, “This (reaching high above my head) is my expectation for this show, and I will do everything in my power to help you reach that level.” I have NEVER been disappointed and, in fact, proud to say that the work of my company often achieved the impossible – exceeding my expectations.
2. The fact that I’m more concerned about the people than I am about the show – Again, I always say, “I’m in the business of helping kids discover their potential, and if we get a good show in the bargain, that’s frosting on the cake.” I’m thrilled to say that over the years there has been a lot of frosting
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Onstage? Seeing the joy of discovery as my students develop their characters which aid in creating the world of the play for the entertainment of others. Opening nights and subsequent performances because that means the journey of discovery is completed, over, and done with.
Opening night and subsequent performances because that means the journey of discovery is completed, over, and done with. It’s a sad thing.
Pricing:
- Performance Approaches to Shakespeare spiral bound paperback – $49.99
- Performance Approaches to Shakespeare eBook – $19.99
Contact Info:
- Website: Performance Approaches to Shakespeare https://perfappshakes.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurie.swigart
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-swigart-077bbb42/
- Other: Theatre on a Shoestring https://www.upstagereview.org/
