Commonweal Theatre Company

In the summer of 1989, the Commonweal Theatre produced a two-show season of Crimes of the Heart and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Thirty-six years later, that theatre company boasts a five-show season from April through December, has staged over 160 productions, and welcomed more than a half a million audience members through its doors. The Commonweal was a midsummer dream that, over time, became a reality and a true success story of what it takes to operate a small, professional theatre company anywhere. The staggering fact is that this success story unfolds where the Root River bends in a town of 724 in rural Minnesota.