Wild Swan Theater
Founded in 1980, Wild Swan Theater has earned a nationwide reputation for our critically-acclaimed productions that blend storytelling, movement, and music into magical, accessible experiences. Theatergoers have delighted in our plays performed by our award-winning troupe of professional adult actors, dancers, musicians, and American Sign Language (ASL) performers. Since its founding, Wild Swan made a commitment to make theater accessible to patrons with special needs. In the early 1980s, we were one of the first theater companies in the nation to incorporate ASL into all of our mainstage performances by fully integrating ASL actors into the central action of the play. Wild Swan Theater also pioneered other audience accessibility measures such as onstage touch tours and audio described performances for audience members who are blind; and pre-performance workshops for audiences who are developmentally disabled. We are proud to be a pioneer in a nationwide movement of developing quality theater experience for young audiences. All the components of Wild Swan productions, scripts, acting, music, and dance, are selected and developed for their outstanding artistry with the belief that children should experience the very best in the arts. In developing scripts, the organization is committed to the following criteria: •stories from a variety of cultures, eras, and places •stories that offer positive role models for our diverse audience and are free of gender stereotypes •a style that incorporates music and dance and that invites inventive, imaginative staging Original music is composed for every play and performed live onstage by noted musicians like award-winning folk musician David Mosher, harmonica virtuoso Peter “Madcat” Ruth, Motown veteran Vincent York, and Ann Arbor’s world-famous duo, Gemini.
