Staying True to Our Mission

Since taking flight in 2003, Cygnet Theatre has grown into one of San Diego’s leading theatre companies and is known for producing adventurous, entertaining and thought-provoking live professional theatre year round.

Cygnet began life in 2003 producing high caliber work in a 165-seat house located in San Diego’s Rolando area near SDSU. Nearly half of all productions have been local premieres, as Cygnet believes strongly in bringing new voices to the community. These have been balanced with classics and musicals. The community response from the beginning was tremendous and Cygnet soon needed a larger venue. In 2008, Cygnet moved to the 246-seat Old Town Theatre in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, where Cygnet reaches over 40,000 people annually and remains committed to bringing multiple unique voices to the stage.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

When Cygnet was more of an idea than a reality, we began contemplating what the name of our company would be. We were very small but ready to announce our presence. In Elizabethan England, the Swan Theatre was built in 1595. It was a contemporary theatre to William Shakespeare, known for his Globe Theatre. We had ambitions to rival San Diego’s Old Globe in quality and heart and decided that our “rival” theatre to theirs would be named after the Shakespearean rival, The Swan. Since we were so small at the time, we named ourselves after the young version of a swan, the cygnet. Thus: Cygnet Theatre. When Old Globe founder Craig Noel was told about the origin of our new name, he laughed fully and gave us his whole-hearted approval. It delighted him, he said, and thus a cygnet was born.