14thAnnual Ibsen Festival

Featuring Jeffery Hatcher’s adaption of Ibsen’s Enemy of the People at the Commonweal

The Ibsen festival marks both spring and the beginning of the area’s professional theater season. The centerpiece of the weekend will be the Commonweal’s production of Ibsen’s Enemy of the People. This will mark the second Ibsen play adapted by playwright Jeffery Hatcher. Last year’s Commonweal season featured Hatcher’s first run at Ibsen with John Gabriel Borkman as well as Hatcher’s take on Turn of the Screw. Scott Dixon Directs the Ibsen classic.

The weekend is full of food and cultural events. Below is a partial listing of events. For a full listing, download the festival brocure.

Weekend Highlights:

Friday April 15

Film
Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story
7:30 pm; Free Will Donation; St. Mane Theatre
Presented by the Lanesboro Arts Center with support from Lanesboro Local, the film traces the development of America’s heartland and its effect on the legendary river. The film offers fresh ideas and concrete solutions to the river’s troubles. Following the film there will be a discussion with sustainable agricultural specialist Loni Kemp. For more information visit www.lanesboroarts.org.

Theatre
An Enemy of the People
7:30 pm; Commonweal Theatre
Newly discovered health springs offer prosperity to a struggling town, until a local doctor realizes the waters are dangerously polluted. How far will a community go to turn a blind eye when the truth will bring about their personal ruin? This final preview performance features a post-show discussion. Reservations recommended.

Saturday, April 16

Book Signing
11:00 am to 3:00 pm; Lanesboro Local Publisher and author Deb Nelson Gourley was raised on her family’s ancestral Norwegian farm in Amherst, Minnesota. The author of Astri My Astri, Deb takes inspiration for her stories from her Norwegian ancestors.

Lecture
For the Love of Lakes
Darby Nelson
11:00 am; FREE; Commonweal Theatre
Minnesota – the land of 10,000 Lakes! But there is much more to a lake than meets the eye. With Thoreau’s ghost over his shoulder, Darby Nelson (President of Conservation Minnesota) explores the natural history of lakes and our relationship with these alluring bodies of water that are so much a part of our lives.

Artist Demonstration: Debra Ganglehoff
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm; Lanesboro Arts Center
Taking her inspiration from the beauty in nature, fiber artist Debra Gangelhoff works with felting, appliqué, and stitchery to make beautiful, useful items for the home.

Lecture
Ibsen Our Contemporary
Richard Hornby
1:00 pm; FREE; Commonweal Theatre
Chair of the Theater Department at the University of California at Riverside and theatre critic for the Hudson Review, Professor Hornby will discuss the challenges and opportunities of staging Ibsen for contemporary audiences.

Panel Discussion and Script Signing
Adapting and Staging Ibsen
4:00 pm; FREE; Commonweal Theatre
The Commonweal has commissioned Jeffrey Hatcher — one of America’s premiere playwrights — to adapt five plays from Ibsen’s canon, including An Enemy of the People. Join Jeffrey, director Scott Dixon and Interim Executive Director Hal Cropp as they discuss the many facets that go into creating a contemporary adaptation of a text more than a century old. Immediately following the panel discussion Jeffrey Hatcher will be signing copies of his script.

The Luther Jazz Quintet
6:30 pm; FREE; Commonweal Theatre Events Hall
Plan to arrive early for the show and enjoy an improvisational jazz concert featuring Tom Bourcier and inspired by the themes found in An Enemy of the People.

Theatre
An Enemy of the People
7:30 pm; $30; Commonweal Theatre
Join us for the opening performance of this world-premiere adaptation and stay for a celebration with the cast and crew after the show. Reservations recommended.

Sunday, April 17

Film
Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story
11:00 am; FREE; Commonweal Theatre

Theatre
An Enemy of the People
1:30 pm; $30; Commonweal Theatre

Visit the Commonweal for schedules and tickets: Commonweal Theatre