April 17-19, 2015
The Commonweal Theatre
historic Lanesboro, MN
Kit Mayer design for The Master Builder
The Commonweal is preparing for its annual celebration of all thing Ibsen and Scandinavian: A weekend of events celebrating Scandinavian theatre, visual arts, music, dance, and food! The centerpiece is a world premiere adaptation of Ibsen's masterpiece
The Master Builder.
The festival line-up features:
Dr. Marvin Carlson of The Graduate Center, City University of New York.
Designer Chat with Kit Mayer Commonweal Resident Set Designer
Darrell Henning Norwegian American Domestic Architecture, former curator of the Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum
Photo Exhibit: The Stave Church in Norway: a visual tour of both interior and exterior displays of Norwegian craftsmanship.
Stave Church in Norway
Other events include Scandinavian cuisine, an Aquavit tasting, artist demonstrations, author talks and more!
For more information on all of our Ibsen programming visit
www.ibsenfest.org.
Or call Adrienne Sweeney, Ibsen Festival coordinator, at (507) 467-2905, ext. 208.
By Rajiv Joseph, directed by Eric Decker, live music by BE
A Vertigo Theatre Factory (Rochester) presentation
St. Main Theatre, Lanesboro, MN
In Gruesome Playground Injuries, accident-prone Doug hurts outside:
bloody facial gashes, eye wounds, chipped teeth, and legs broken. His life-long
friend Kayleen hurts mostly inside. The play takes them through childhood to
adulthood on a strange but absorbing journey of pain, friendship, missed
signals and bad timing. NOTE: Not recommended for audiences under the age of
16.
March 16, 8:00 p.m. St. Maine Theatre, Lanesboro Tickets $15/$12 student. 507-467-2446. Seating in the St. Mane Theatre is
handicapped accessible.
Vertigo Theatre Factory’s production of Gruesome Playground
Injuries also appears in Rochester:
March 8, 9, 10 Rochester Civic Theatre Lobby, 20
Civic Center Drive, Rochester March 30, 31, Barnbar, Rochester
Siobhan Bremer and Adrienne Sweeney in The Commonweal's production of John Gabriel Borkman. Photo and set design by Nayna Ramey
The Commonweal and Lanesboro begin their 13th annual celebration of Henrik Ibsen and all things Scandinavian tonight. The celebration includes food, art, music, and and the world premiere production of Jeffery Hatcher’s adaptation of John Gabriel Borkman.
Borkman finishes its week of preview performances tonight, and it opens Saturday night. Its title character has sequestered himself in the upstairs of his house after serving jail time for a money scam that he engineered while president of a bank. While the banking scandal is in the backdrop, the play is a love story of sorts that centers on the psychological tug of war between three emotionally damaged people: Borkman, his wife, and her twin sister.
The cast features Hal Cropp as Borkman and Adrienne Sweeney and Siobhan Bremer as the twin sisters. Stella Burdt, Sarah Hawkins, Tim Sailer, Laura Depta and David Henssey round out the cast.
Weekend Highlights:
Friday
7:30 pm Diane Jarvi. Scandinavian, folk, and world music
Presented by the Lanesboro Arts Center, Diane Jarvi is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and kantele player (Finnish folk harp.) Known in Finland as Minnesotan Satakieli—The Minnesota Nightingale—Jarvi is a versatile performer of Scandinavian, folk and world music. $12 – St. Mane Theatre
7:30 p.m. John Gabriel Borkman
Final preview performance
$15 – The Commonweal
Saturday
10:00 a.m. Professor Simon Williams.Coming to Terms With The Industrial Revolution.
Williams is Chair of the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His talk will illuminate the themes of Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman in the aftermath of America’s own recent banking scandals.
1:00 p.m. Henry (Hank) Shea.Confronting the Temptations of Greed, Power and Money in Our Society.
Shea is a Fellow at the University of St. Thomas Law School’s Halloran Center for Ethical Leadership.
3:00 p.m. Panel discussion:Ibsen For a Contemporary Audience
former Guthrie Resident Director Risa Brainin (Director of this production of John Gabriel Borkman)
playwright Jeffrey Hatcher (author of this new adaptation of John Gabriel Borkman.)
Commonweal Theatre’s design team.
7:30 p.m. John Gabriel Borkman
Opening performance
$25 – The Commonweal
The Commonweal has prepared this video to offer some perspective on John Gabriel Borkman. It offers thoughts on the play from playwritht Jeffery Hatcher, Director Risa Brainin, and Commonweal Artistic Director Hal Cropp:
Straight from a hit run of this year’s KC Fringe Festival, the Kansas City theatrical band is playing one night in Lanesboro, MN to share their sad, sad story. Created and directed by UMKC professor Stephanie Roberts the ensemble features Daniel Eichenbaum, Peter Lawless, Grant Prewitt, Heidi Van, Roberts, and Lanesboro’s own Carla Noack.
Boom! is the story of reunited orphans from around the world. Misplaced by their traveling scientist parents, these wayward foundlings magically converged in the heartland where they now seek meaning and healing through mysterious marches and geometrical formations. Come see what Robert Trussell of the Kansas City Star calls, “Joyful, foolish and crazed…agreeably ridiculous!
The seating in the new Commonweal is general admission, which means patrons choose their seats on a first-come, first-served basis. (As a perk, season ticket holders are allowed into the theater first.) Because of the thrust seating, all of the seats are close to the stage, but I think the larger section directly facing the stage offers the best theatre experience. For example, I spent the first half of Harvey in the second row on the house left side of the stage. After intermission, I moved to a comparable seat in the center section and noticed a definite increase in "energy." I think the extra energy came largely from the actors playing more to the front of the room, but it also ccame from sitting in a section with more people (the side sections only have a few rows, while the center section has many.) Hearing others around me laugh increased my enjoyment of the play. At the Commonweal, patrons don't have to pay extra for the best seats, they just have to be timely.
Food
Lanesboro has several great restaurants, and eating before a performance is an important part of the Lanesboro theatre experience. With plays starting one half hour earlier (7:30 p.m.), it's a bit harder to make the trip to Lanesboro and still have time for a relaxing meal. This summer, several of the restaurants in town have made accommodations for the earlier time by staying open later on weekends. (In the past, the three bars were the only places to socialize after the plays.) While not an exhaustive list, the Vintage Restaurant (right next to the Commonweal) and Riverside on the Root both offer limited menus after the play. Additionally, Riverside often has live acoustic music on their outdoor deck. That means that theatre goers won't starve if they skip dinner to make the show, and they now have places to go after the play to extend the theatre experience.
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