Supporter: Commonweal Theatre Company

Business Name: Commonweal Theatre Company

Website: http://www.commonwealtheatre.org

Email: info@commonwealtheatre.org

Address: 208 Parkway Ave North | Lanesboro, MN 55949

Phone: Box Office - 800.657.7025

What services does your business provide?

We provide professional theatre to southeast Minnesota and surrounding regions. The Commonweal's mission is to enrich the common good through actor-based storytelling, which is both transcendent and relevant.

History of your company?

Since 1989, the professional artists of the Commonweal have brought to life soulful stories told with honesty and creativity. Located in the heart of southeast Minnesota’s bluff country, Lanesboro (pop. 788) is home to the company’s new theatre in its historic downtown.

The heart of the Commonweal’s programming is the main stage season. This balanced, yet challenging repertory is comprised of up to six plays with more than 200 performances, chosen from among the world’s finest classic, contemporary, and emerging playwrights. Because Lanesboro is located amidst a high concentration of Norwegian-American families, the Commonweal produces the works of Henrik Ibsen annually, and remains the only theatre company in North America with such a commitment. The company hosts a new play series which has yielded thirteen world premieres since its inception.

The Commonweal boasts a rare organizational model, with resident company members (who have come from all over the country to make their home in the Lanesboro area) fulfilling the day-to-day artistic and operational needs of the company as artist/administrators.

Any other info that might be of interest to visitors of the art tour? Although our main mission is to provide live, professional theatre for our community, we are also home to a unique and permanent art installation with our new building: Commonweal Stash. Artist Karl Unnasch has enhanced our lobby as a tribute to the the region and our theatre's history. Additionally, we occasionally feature artists on our walls to complement the onstage stories and provide depth to those themes.