Commonweal Theatre Company is in their 38th year of producing professional theater in Southern Minnesota; I've been a Twin Cities Theater Blogger for 16 years, and I can't believe it took me this long to visit them. The Commonweal is located in Lanesboro, a town known for the Root River State Trail, B&Bs, and great theater. They have a five-show season that runs from April through December, with shows overlapping so it is possible to see two shows in one visit, which is what I did. I made the beautiful 2-hour drive on a rainy Saturday morning, saw two shows that day (during which the clouds cleared), had some good food and drinks, did a little shopping, and stayed at a lovely B&B just down the street. This may have been my first visit but it will not be my last; I will be adding The Commonweal to my annual theater vacay list, which includes
Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona (June-July), the Tony-winning
American Players Theatre in Spring Green, WI (
June-October, I'm making my 4th visit in a few weeks), and occasional trips to Duluth Playhouse and/or Zeitgeist (
Urinetown in November!). There are obviously a ton of great theater options in the Twin Cities, but theater is everywhere, and people in rural areas or outstate cities deserve great theater too, in fact it's vital to a thriving community. "Commonweal" means "the public welfare," and this theater truly feels like it is for the public welfare, and an important part of the community. For us non-locals, it's really fun to experience theater in other locations, explore other areas in the Midwest, and make a vacation out of it. One of the two shows I saw closes this week, but the other continues through the end of October, with another play opening in September, plus a holiday show that is one of my favorites,
so there's still time to visit Lanesboro and enjoy everything the area has to offer, including great theater, this late summer/fall/winter.
