Disco Pigs

What you are about to see may offend you. It may terrorize you. You may hate the main characters. But, perhaps, you might also fall in love with them. Runt and Pig are not ideal citizens of the world. However we hope you will still find room to witness their love story with compassion.

When Jack first approached me about directing a play over Zoom with Meg and Raph, I was really excited about the challenge, but wasn’t sure how we would approach it (they are in California and I’m in NY). I wanted Meg and Raph to still have the experience of a rehearsal process for a live performance (even though we knew it would be a recording that our audience would watch later). I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if we can figure out how to put the live bare-bones black box experience into a Zoom room, and capture the intimate theatrical experience (that we all miss) of a live downtown New York City 50-seat house theater. So, rather than using filmic pictures to tell the story, it was important to keep our audience active; listening to the language and using our imagination to see the props, the locations, and all the people Runt and Pig encounter.

Plays and Movies from 1996:

Movies from the nineties were some of the most violent, among them PULP FICTION, KIDS, TRAINSPOTTING, FARGO, ACID HOUSE, and LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS. Enda Walsh’s award-winning one-act play Disco Pigs, written in 1996, is cut from the same violent aesthetic and can be brutal and hard to stomach.

Updates on Ireland in 2021 - Something to celebrate:
Did you know that Dublin recently elected their first Chinese mayor, Hazel Chu? Here is a link to hear her inspiring story.

Some action needed:
Did you know that Ireland doesn’t have any laws to protect people against hate crimes?
Since Covid, there have been hate crimes against Chinese Irish citizens. Unfortunately, Ireland doesn’t have any laws in place to protect people against hate crimes. If you want to help encourage Ireland to protect people from hate crimes, please sign this petition here.

Raphael M. Berglas is excited to perform tonight in Purchase Reperatory’s production of “Disco Pigs”. Some of his previous roles include Hotspur in Archway Theatre Company’s production of Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, Duke Vincentio in Shakespeare in the Vines’ production of “Measure for Measure”, Piper Thomas in Purchase Reperatory’s online production of “Everything You Love”, Stanley Kowalski in Interlochen Arts Academy’s production of “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Black Stache in “Peter and the Starcatcher”, and Lord Farquaad in “Shrek – the musical”. He is from Highland, California and is currently a Junior in the Acting conservatory at the SUNY Purchase Acting training program in upstate New York. He wants to thank Megan for her constant love and support throughout the whole process and beyond.

Megan Ashley Greco is a third year BFA actor from Kissimmee, Florida. Purchase Rep credits include: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Mother Teresa), Civic Duty (Opening Act), and TheLaramie Project (Marge Murray). Another credit includes A Shadow over Innsmouth (Loraine) at Riverside Community Players. Special Thanks to Raphael Berglas for being an amazing partner in and out of rehearsals!

Disco Pigs by Enda Walsh is a coming-of-age story about Runt (Shinead) and Pig (Darren), two best friends who were born on the same day in 1979 in Cork, Ireland. The play begins in 1996 on their 17th birthday and ends the next day. While this is a day of celebration, it’s also the day they realize they are changing. Their desires are changing, and their friendship is changing.

For 17 years, Pig and Runt have created an imaginary world where only Pig and Runt exist. For their whole lives, it’s been Pig and Runt versus the rest of the world. Together they unleash their hate, anger, and violence on the world around them. Perhaps this is what happens to children born from generations of war who no longer have a war to fight. Perhaps it’s in their DNA to still try and fight those old wars. But, in the end, the cost of war is real. Disco Pigs is a play about the cost of war, and what happens when your whole world is blown up and nothing will ever be the same again.

Maggie Surovell is an award-winning director of theater and film, as well as a playwright, and dialect coach for theater and film. In 2015, Maggie won Outstanding Achievement in Directing and Filmmaking for the feature film Last Pick Up at the Seventh Annual Williamsburg International Film Festival. She also directed the short film Becoming Mim, brilliantly composed by Murray Gold and starring Maury Ginsberg and Kelley Jackson. For stage, she most recently directed Howard Barker’s The Possibilities (2019), and BlackTop Sky (2017) by Christina Anderson at SUNY Purchase with the BFA actors. Maggie also directed her own play Buddhas Are Screaming in China (2015) for Planet Connections Theater Festivity (winning the Outstanding Playwriting award). Her musical Oh My!: An Indie Rock Musical About the Invention of the Vibrator (2009) was part of the IRT Artists In Residence 3B Development Series. And her one-woman show WARNING SIGNS (2005) was a New York Magazine Top Pick and part of Cherry Lane Theatre’s Late Nite. A certified teacher in Fitzmaurice Voicework®, Maggie has an MFA in acting from University of Georgia and a BA in theater from Temple University, and studied under the late renowned acting teacher Wynn Handman, co-founder and Artistic Director of the American Place Theatre.

In our teaching and art, the Conservatory values inclusiveness, equality, and excellence. Upholding all of our training is our aim to train and graduate citizen artists: multifaceted people with a strong sense of purpose in approaching an arts education.

What is a citizen artist? Citizen artists seek to discover how their unique voices can contribute to our world. They understand what it means to be an artist, and what they are here on earth to say and do and make.
The Conservatory trains future citizen artists in three degree programs:

+ BFA Actor Training. The BFA is an intensive professional training program offered to a highly select and diverse group of students. The professional training is anchored in four years of study in acting, voice, speech, and movement, complemented by offerings in dramatic literature and analysis, history of the theatre, stage combat, improvisation, mask work, acting for the camera, and the business of acting. As one of five schools in the Consortium of Professional Theatre Training Programs, Purchase is one of a handful of colleges in the world capable of training artists at this level—and of drawing a faculty from the ranks of professional theatre

+ BFA in Theatre Design/Technology. Emphasizing studio and classroom training, our professional training program in theatre design/technology gives students the guidance and support of established and theatre industry professionals. Many of our alumni are recognized at the top of their field, and have received Tony, Emmy, Obie, and Drama Desk Awards, among other honors. Quite literally, Purchase grads are working in or have worked in every theatre on Broadway, in all tristate venues, and with countless touring productions

+ BA program in Theatre and Performance. From traditional theatre to cutting-edge interdisciplinary work, the theatre and performance major encourages creativity, intellectual curiosity, social engagement, and critical thinking. The core requirements combine scholarship and practice to provide students with a strong foundation in theatre history and dramatic literature, with mandatory stagecraft/production courses. Theatre and Performance majors are encouraged to expand the scope of their education by studying abroad, as well as pursuing coursework in other programs of study within the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Purchase College