‘Piggsville’ Brings Hamlet to Old Milwaukee

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Piggsville play poster

UWM Peck School of the Arts presents the premiere of a sharply framed drama as it stages playwright Alvaro Saar Rios’ Piggsville. Shades of Shakespeare stylishly wash over a mythical dream of Hamlet in old Milwaukee. Nahjee Robinson summons admirable gravity as Pippo—a man who has failed to inherit his father’s brewery after the man’s death. Ethan Hightire carves a compelling complexity into his portrayal of Pippo’s brother Sowl, who inherited the business in spite of his gross lack of competence and work ethic. Pippo and Sowl have conflicted reactions to the sudden appearance of their sister Hohmm, who has returned to Piggsville suspecting that her father was murdered. Hailey Kanderski summons a heroic energy to the role of the sister seeking justice. Kylie Deacetis summons a dazzlingly darker heroism as a cooper named Rausch who aids Hohmm in her investigation.

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Photo by Sara Stathas

'Piggsville' - Peck School of the Arts

Peck School of the Arts' 'Piggsville'

The script fuses impressively intense drama with sly comedy from a variety of different angles that celebrate the tarnished ambitions that helped build a nation. The historic Milwaukee setting of Piggsville lends some flavor to the atmosphere without enslaving itself to the bounds of actual history. The old-time Milwaukee brewery backdrop gives Piggsville a rich environment for murder and mystery that might have otherwise felt thematically unmoored. The deeper socIo-political aspects of the script give Piggsville provocative depth that goes well beyond simple adaptation of Shakespeare to bring something wholly new to the stage. Alvaro Saar Rios has found a perfect fusion between Shakespeare and something distinctly Milwaukee set in a brewery somewhere in antiquity. Director Sheri Williams Pannell brings the story to the stage with richly delivered atmosphere that feels like a world all its own.

UWM Peck School of the Arts’ production of Piggsville runs through Dec. 11 at the MainStage Theatre, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd.