12 Jun 2024

Hello friends, Oh you Pig Iron connoisseu r—you with a taste for adventure, for unusual side dishes, and for the mysterious proteins of the future! Spring has sprung, and we are hard at work in Philadelphia's test kitchens for experimental performance . The Pig Iron MFA students are cooking up clown shows and documentary theater and full-length devised works. Our...

7 Jun 2023

Hello friends, Oh you Pig Iron connoisseu r—you with a taste for adventure, for unusual side dishes, and for the mysterious proteins of the future! Spring has sprung, and we are hard at work in Philadelphia's test kitchens for experimental performance . The Pig Iron MFA students are cooking up clown shows and documentary theater and full-length devised works. Our...

18 Oct 2022

The Pig Iron Theatre Company Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Jasmine Jiang as its Managing Director. In this role, Jasmine will lead Pig Iron alongside Co-Founders and Co-Artistic Directors, Quinn Bauriedel and Dan Rothenberg. She will serve as the financial, strategic and operational leader for the organization, balancing the needs of both the Pig Iron...

8 Oct 2021

Pig Iron Theatre Company is casting five performer-creators for an original, devised performance installation called THE PREGNANT SPEAKEASY. We are seeking performers and makers with experience in devised theater, contemporary dance, performance art and physical theater. Performer-creators must be comfortable improvising – both speaking and movement. Performers can be of any race and any gender. We are especially interested in...

30 Aug 2021

Pig Iron is pleased to announce that we will be hosting the radio version of Why Are You Killing Yourself? by writer and director Zaina Dana, Assistant Director of Love Unpunished , on Zoom on September 13, 2021 . We will follow up with a discussion with some of the artists who worked on Zaina’s piece and some of the...

9 Jun 2021

This app has been closed as of September 22, 2021. Thank you to all who joined us in our first (but not last!) foray into interactive digital media. Please check back on our blog and website for future updates on new apps and adventures. You are invited to the Open Beta of FRANKLIN’S SECRET CITY: A smartphone App-Adventure for two...

18 Mar 2021

Pig Iron Theatre Company is looking to cast four performers for our upcoming movement-theater production of LOVE UNPUNISHED. Experience in physical theater and devising, or in contemporary dance, are a plus. Performer-creator must be comfortable improvising – both scenes and movement. Performers can be of any race and any gender. The ages to be played on stage range from 25...

20 Jun 2020

Zero Cost House (for Zoom) By Toshiki Okada Translated by Aya Ogawa Directed by Dan Rothenberg June 26-27 & July 2-3 7:30PM (EDT) on Zoom The performance is 2 hours long, with a 5 minute intermission. Pay what you wish, $1-$99. All ticket proceeds will be donated to Mill Creek Urban Farm and Morris Home . Learn more about these...

19 Jun 2020

June 2020 Like so many of you, we are horrified by police actions across our country this month and the continued injustice and violence we are seeing against black and brown Americans. Here in Philadelphia, we mourn the loss of Philadelphia's own Dominique "Rem'mie" Fells. We at Pig Iron stand in solidarity with Black artists and all BIPOC and we...

26 May 2020

After many years of keeping videos of old shows under lock and key, in keeping with our credo that the breath in the room is the true heart of the performance works we make, we are making a pivot. For your summer 2020 viewing pleasure: a collection of Pig Iron works from the archive! Some were shot on an ancient...

26 Aug 2016

Last May, Pig Iron celebrated 20 years of existence with a weekend chock-full of parties and performances. Here's a list of the events we held to commemorate two decades of exuberant and unusual performance-making.

25 Jul 2016

Pig Iron Seeks Singers/Performers for TIMESCALES: A Performance Installation Pig Iron Theatre Company is looking for senior citizens (ages 70 and older) and children (ages 9-12) to appear in TIMESCALES, a performance installation, with singing, at the University of Pennsylvania on October 21 and October 22, 2016. TIMESCALES will be part of Pig Iron’s development process for A Period of...

2 Jun 2016

Pig Iron has embarked on a new chapter of work focusing on collaborations with composers and musicians. We’ve just wrapped up a week of performance research with choristers from The Crossing, musicians from the new Arcana ensemble, and Sweden’s Teater Slava. We’re digging into a new collaboration with composer Troy Herion and designer Mimi Lien entitled A Period of Animate...

31 May 2016

This past weekend, we won a coveted award: The Wow Priset (translation: “wow prize!”). Pictured here in its place of honor in our offices on North 2nd Street, the Wow Priset was hand-carved by Teater Slava’s Daniel Rudholm from a single piece of byörk (Translation: birch). According to the Swedish prize committee, the statuette represents Teater Slava’s feeling of “wow”...

25 May 2016

Looking back on it, I sort of can’t believe it happened. Joe Chaikin was one of our heros, and his book Presence of the Actor was a kind of bible for me. His experimental group The Open Theater (1963-73) was one of the templates for Pig Iron. And somehow, we lured Joe out of retirement in the year 2000 to...

5 May 2016

Dito's Extra-Special SWEET BY-AND-BY Recipe Or: HOW DID SOME GUY FROM STOCKHOLM NAMED DANIEL (DAH-nyul) RUDHOLM (RUDE-home) MEET PIG IRON AND MAKE SWEET BY AND BY? By Dito van Reigersberg Originally written Monday, August 25, 2008 Republished in honor of our 20th Anniversary and return visit from our Slava friends. INGREDIENTS One (1) chance encounter, eight years ago, between Slava...

28 Apr 2016

18 Apr 2016

We love these old postcards from our 1997 production of CAFETERIA. A note from Dito: We chose the milk carton aesthetic to remind people of their elementary school days and cafeterias because the whole piece was about the American life cycle. We begin in a cafeteria and if we end up in a retirement home, we end in a cafeteria

7 Apr 2016

In honor of our 20th Anniversary, we proudly present a series of throwback images we've dug out of our own archives. Starting with this one of Quinn and Dito, sharing a bed in a tiny apartment while touring internationally. It's the life of a touring artist. A note from Dito: "We did share that bed. During SHUT EYE in Edinburgh...

3 Mar 2016

We are pleased to announce that Network of Ensemble Theatres has awarded Pig Iron Theatre Company with a 2015-16 NET/TEN Exchange Grant to support a collaboration with music composer and Filmmaker Troy Herion. Pig Iron and Herion will come together for 10 daysto exchange improvisation and composition techniques related to the devising of original music-theater. This exchange will lay the...

16 Feb 2016

La Vie Bo-Ham - Pig Iron's annual benefit cabaret - was a success and we surpassed our goals. Our heartfelt thanks to our fans, donors, volunteers, performers, and everyone who made the event so special, so fun, and so successful. We hope if you were there you enjoyed yourself and walked home with an auction item or two. Check back...

14 Jan 2016

"Long before Death Cab for Cutie and Toots and the Maytals were playing the main stage, the Troc's biggest stars were burlesque heroines such as Blaze Starr and Gypsy Rose Lee. The rock club in Philly's Chinatown district opened in 1880 as a vaudeville-and-minstrel-show outpost known as the Arch Street Opera House; its live-music incarnation began a century later. The...

7 Dec 2015

We've uncovered a plethora of World War I love letters. This one, sent to a lover along with a flower, is definitely worth reading.* 'If prayers will aide and they will God will take care of everything. Of course it is hard to understand this war in regards to the Lord’s will and means of protecting his people - but...

30 Nov 2015

Atlas Obscura has a nifty article about a Belgian family who have been keeping Hill 62, a WWI bunker, preserved for nearly a century.

25 Nov 2015

The “Gentlemen Volunteers” was a term coined for the men and women who served with the American Field Service during the First World War. Many of the Gentlemen Volunteers were recent Ivy League graduates. Some joined because they wanted to prove their manhood, but the US hadn’t joined the war. Others desired to do their part, but not be involved...

25 Nov 2015

9 Nov 2015

World War I was the stage of incredible advancements in battlefield medicine. There’s no better example than the M1917 ambulance. These iconic WWI ambulances were created by the Ford Motor Company, and were built from the Model T chassis. Its top speed was 45mph produced by a 4-cylinder, water-cooled engine. Due to the French ban on foreign nationals in the...

27 Oct 2015

From a medical standpoint, World War I was a miserable and bloody affair. In less than a year the American armed forces suffered more than 318,000 casualties. When the United States entered the war in 1917, the army did not have an established medical corps. During the war, the army medical corps copied parts of the French and English medical...

15 Oct 2015

As Pig Iron prepares its reprise of Gentlemen Volunteers, we'll share content about the stories and events that informed and inspired the production. The Red Cross played an important role during World War I. Prior to the First World War, the Red Cross introduced its first aid, water safety, and public health nursing programs. With the outbreak of war, the...

9 Sep 2015

Even Nancy Drew and her pals journeyed to the swamp to solve a few mysteries. Nancy is asked to investigate some UFO sightings. She and Ned follow the saucer to Dismal Swamp, where they have hallucinations and retrieve soil polluted by a concentrated acid. Subplot - Nancy meets Old Joe, who asks her to find his father's hidden wallet, containing...

31 Aug 2015

You can make a swamp out of just about anything. Featured image: Minecraft swamp Above image: Lego swamp

24 Aug 2015

Video! pic.twitter.com/cPXp40r5xK — Pig Iron Signals Aux (@PIPSA_Aux) August 18, 2015

17 Aug 2015

Are you ready for the journey to the swamp? The concert/experiment will commence in just under a month at Union Transfer and tickets are going fast. Get yours today at Union Transfer and Fringe Arts. If you're joining us on this swamptastic journey, you are encouraged to bring old cassette tapes (the ones they can say goodbye to -- permanently)...

10 Aug 2015

SWAMP FACTS: Swamps are in a constant state of transition between land and water. All the coal we've ever used originated from swamps millions of years ago.

3 Aug 2015

Dr. Dog Pop Detatchment - working hard on SWAMP IS ON.

27 Jul 2015

What are these guys wearing? And what is going on in the swamp? Check out the video below. Join us this September at Union Transfer for Swamp is On - our collaboration with Dr. Dog. We're excited to be working with these guys. Swamp Is On! A video posted by Dr. Dog (@drdogmusic) on Jul 23, 2015 at 2:10pm PDT

10 Jun 2015

"I'm wondering what chemicals were involved." "The costumes were fantastic.” "Really enjoyed it." "Wasn't quite sure what to expect but was intrigued, had to come, and loved it." - Audiences at FringeArts We thank you for coming to check out I PROMISED MYSELF TO LIVE FASTER. In case you still don't believe it: Yep, there were only 5 actors up...

30 May 2015

What does it mean to be gay in outer space? Is queer science fiction a culture? Read some thoughts on current literature here .

29 May 2015

Done reading about Ludlam and desperately curious? See his work firsthand in the film Museum of Wax . Still want more? Come see I Promised Myself to Live Faster through May 31st.

27 May 2015

To continue the introduction into the life and work of Charles Ludlam, here is an interview conducted by Don Shewey in which Ludlam speaks about some of his own inspirations and aspirations.

23 May 2015

What is the Theater of the Ridiculous that Pig Iron is so intent on exploring? Read Ludlam's own manifesto .

22 May 2015

Charles Ludlam’s Theater of the Ridiculous both transcended and defined gay, drag, camp, and avant-garde theater from Ludlam’s 1966 debut in New York to his early death of AIDS-related illness in 1987. His work is a foundational influence on Pig Iron, and on this weekend’s I Promised Myself to Live Faster especially. Here is a brief biography of Ludlam’s life...

6 Apr 2015

Meet Our Match, friends. The Wyncote Foundation has offered Pig Iron a generous match to support our groundbreaking work - like I Promised Myself to Live Faster . Wyncote makes our hometown so much brighter and bolder, making the arts possible for creators and audiences during tough times. We have a big crush on them, and want them to keep...

9 Mar 2015

We unpacking our wigs and disco balls in Louisville, Kentucky where we will perform our next show, I Promised Myself To Live Faster , at Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival. As always, we cannot do this without you. We know you are racking your brains trying to figure out HOW to support us. Look no further. This link will...

17 Feb 2015

It's cold and icy out there. But not in here. Come closer, feel the warm glow on your face, fogging up those glasses. Warm Gratitude to you, yes you. This year's annual benefit, Pigonometry, was a sold-out blast of hot steamy goodness, and we are thrilled by its success. A million thanks for everyone who came and showed their love...

19 Sep 2012 in Zero Cost House

Beppu. An unexpected delight. After a week of traveling through Tokyo and Kumamoto, being overwhelmed by Japanese food, culture, daily behavior, and, equally, Sakaguchi, his new government, zero yen houses, and Toshiki's new found community in Kumamoto, we arrived in Beppu to begin work on our play in earnest. After our experiences in both Tokyo and Kumamoto, it felt like...

12 Sep 2012 in Zero Cost House

Before anything, I want to introduce you to KUMAMON. Every Japanese city, it seems, has a mascot, and for the fair city of Kumamoto, it's the cuddly and adorable Kumamon bear. In a recent national content, Kumamon won #1 mascot in Japan. Pig Iron is smitten. As you can imagine, there is Kumamon swag all over our latest destination, and...