Commonweal Theatre Company: Difference between revisions
Tag: references removed |
|||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
The Commonweal is an artist-run company, with Resident Company members who have come from all over the country to make their home in the Lanesboro area that fulfill the day-to-day artistic and operational needs of the company as artist/administrators. The company also employs Season Company members, college interns, and in 2008, introduced the Apprentice Company into their organizational structure. |
The Commonweal is an artist-run company, with Resident Company members who have come from all over the country to make their home in the Lanesboro area that fulfill the day-to-day artistic and operational needs of the company as artist/administrators. The company also employs Season Company members, college interns, and in 2008, introduced the Apprentice Company into their organizational structure. |
||
Copyright (C) 2009 Harold N. Cropp. Permission is granted to copy, dirtribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. |
|||
Copyright (C) 2009 Harold N. Cropp. |
Copyright (C) 2009 Harold N. Cropp. |
||
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License". |
|||
== History == |
== History == |
||
Revision as of 21:08, 7 June 2009
The Commonweal Theatre Company is a professional theatre company in Lanesboro, Minnesota (pop. 788). Established in 1989 by Eric Bunge, the company's season runs April to December and is comprised of six plays chosen from among the world's finest classic, contemporary, and emerging playwrights. Due to the Scandinavian influence in southeast Minnesota, the Commonweal produces the works of Henrik Ibsen annually, and remains the only theatre company in North America with such a commitment. [1]
Company Structure
The Commonweal is an artist-run company, with Resident Company members who have come from all over the country to make their home in the Lanesboro area that fulfill the day-to-day artistic and operational needs of the company as artist/administrators. The company also employs Season Company members, college interns, and in 2008, introduced the Apprentice Company into their organizational structure.
Copyright (C) 2009 Harold N. Cropp. Permission is granted to copy, dirtribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
Copyright (C) 2009 Harold N. Cropp. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
History
The Commonweal Theatre was founded in 1989 by Eric Lorentz Bunge at the request of the Lanesboro Art Council. The first season of the company was eleven weeks long and employed ten artists who presented Crimes of the Heart and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.[2]
In 1991, the company launched its student matinee program, and in 1992 began its high school conservatory program, a two-week, intensive immersion in theatre training for area high school students. In 1993, the company moved to a rotating repertory season schedule. By 1994 the production season extended to December. [3]
In 1995 the company acquired the Lanesboro Radio Company, initially an unaffiliated group of community volunteers who created and produced Over the Back Fence, a live one-hour radio variety program that plays weekly from Memorial Day to Labor Day. In 1996 the theatre undertook its first mainstage tour by bringing U.S.A. by John Dos Passos to Red Wing and Minneapolis. The company also began development of a script with playwright Robert Wolf based upon the true-life stories of farm families in the area over the past five decades, which led to the development of the New Play Series which commissions new work and has resulted in 11 world premieres on the Commonweal stage. [4]
In 1997, in association with Winona State University, the theatre added an Elderhostel program.
February 1998 marked the inauguration of the company’s Ibsen Festival, an annual production and affiliated events relevant to the works and world of Henrik Ibsen. This annual festival has become a signature event of each season, attracting Ibsen scholars and audiences from across the country. [5]
In 2008, the company added the first ever Apprentice Company, bringing five young professional theatre artists to the Lanesboro area to act, direct, and become immersed in the Commonweal's unique artist/administrator structure.
Currently, Hal Cropp serves as the company's Artistic Director and Eric Bunge is the Managing Director.
Copyright (C) 2009 Harold N. Cropp.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
New Theatre
“Another star must be mentioned: The new Commonweal performance space. The trap doors, various stage entry points, and other technical facilities of the new building are put to often dramatic use.” Rochester Post Bulletin
The beautiful new Commonweal Theatre opened in July 2007. Located on Lanesboro’s historic main street, the theatre offers patrons a comfortable, intimate experience in a 200-seat house. The exterior façade recreates three charming Lanesboro shop fronts and the interior design, created by Lanesboro artist Karl Unnash, focuses on the natural beauty and history of the region with barn doors acting as bathroom stalls, stone walls mirroring the surrounding bluffs, concrete floors reflecting the building’s prior life as a cheese factory, and seats reclaimed from the original Guthrie Theater.
The new facility offers:
* A state-of-the-art theatre with no seat more than 35 feet from the stage * Expanded lobby with a concessions area, accessible restrooms and a place to hang coats * Easily accessible box office * Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance throughout the building * Fully outfitted classroom/rehearsal space * Modern heating and cooling and an allergen-free building
Copyright (C) 2009 Harold N. Cropp.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
Ibsen Festival
12th Annual Ibsen Festival
April 17-19, 2009
Featuring Hedda Gabler, the festival's events will strive to put this complex masterpiece into perspective for our audience. Speakers include Ba Clemetsen of the National Theatre of Norway and Joan Templeton, president of the Ibsen Society of America and author of Ibsen's Women. Other events include a corset exhibit by artist Julie McLaughlin, piano concerto, film screenings, concerts and Scandinavian cultural presenters and folk art displays.
The Commonweal is the only theatre in North America with an annual commitment to producing the works of Henrik Ibsen, the Father of Modern Drama. Since 1998, the company has opened each season with an Ibsen play and celebrate this tradition with the Ibsen Festival. Every other year, the company tours an Ibsen production throughout the region. [6]
The Commonweal Theatre Company has been awarded one of only four International Ibsen Scholarships for our commitment to the works of Henrik Ibsen. Artistic director Hal Cropp and Ibsen Festival Coordinator Adrienne Sweeney traveled to Norway as guests of the Norwegian government last fall to receive the award and participate in the bi-ennial Ibsen Festival and Conference. Scholarhip monies (250.000NOK/approximately $39,000) will be used to support the Commonweal's Ibsen Festival and tour.
Copyright (C) 2009 Harold N. Cropp.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
2009 Season
- Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
- The Odd Couple by Neil Simon
- The Rainmaker by Richard Nash
- November Nights A new play to be announced soon
- 1940s Radio Hour by Walton Jones
Copyright (C) 2009 Harold N. Cropp.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
References
- ^ Whisner, Amanda (2007). Impossible Dreams: A Commonweal Commemorative Book.
- ^ Commonweal Website, History. Accessed 9.24.08
- ^ Commonweal Website, History. Accessed 9.24.08
- ^ Commonweal Website, History. Accessed 9.24.08
- ^ Commonweal Website, History. Accessed 9.24.08
- ^ Commonweal Theatre Website, Ibsen. Accessed 9.24.08
Copyright (C) 2009 Harold N. Cropp.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
External links
Commonweal Theatre Company Website[1]
Lanesboro, MN Website [2]