Paige Phillips – The Tale of the Slaughtered Hog

The Tale of the Slaughtered Hog is a lively and raucous performance that weaves together Paige Phillips’ memories of growing up in coal country West Virginia with radical Appalachian histories. It is a sweeping narrative that encourages national allyship, highlighting patterns of labor exploitation and wealth inequality.

Audiences learn about the Coal Wars, a series of armed labor conflicts led by a group of multiethnic and multiracial miners. Phillips, a daughter of a coal miner, grapples with redneck tropes and questions why there is so much animosity toward our nation’s rural poor.

Paige Phillips (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and cultural organizer. Her artwork is at the intersection of the performing and visual arts, engaging most frequently with dance, installation, and film. Through historical examinations, she seeks to complicate narratives and blur binaries. She has exhibited across the United States and abroad in Singapore, Nepal, Thailand, and Hungary. Paige has taught at institutions such as Rowan University, International School Bangkok, and The Ohio State University. She is currently a curator of participatory public artwork at Mural Arts, and vice president of the board of directors at Mascher Space Cooperative.