Commonweal Theatre

Let’s do the time warp and travel to 1973 for a retro coming-of-age comedy! You’ve heard of the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family, now meet the wonderful and wacky O’Sheas: an upstanding Irish-Catholic family who can’t seem to escape comedic chaos. 19-year-old Linda O’Shea has been tasked by her frazzled mother to teach her little sister about the “birds and the bees.” But when the stern parish priest overhears, holy hell breaks loose! The O’Sheas must scramble to outwit the priest, confound a nosy neighbor, and discover that nothing is more sacred than family.

Percy, a troubled young woman on parole, yearns for a fresh start and heads to the small Wisconsin town of Gilead. She finds work at the dried-up town’s only eatery, The Spitfire Grill. As Percy discovers her own path to redemption, she awakens the town’s capacity for healing and hope. With soaring melodies and Midwestern charm, this folk musical is a celebration of kindness and community. “The country-flavored tunes and lyrics are rendered with the kind of conviction and expertise that make them transcendent. What in normal times would be a joy is, in these troubled ones, sheer nourishment.” – New York Magazine

Come heck or high water, it’s time for a bachelor party! Best buds Sven and Ole gather at their pal Lars’s ice-fishing shack on Lake Mille Lacs to celebrate Ole’s upcoming marriage to Lena. But this ice-fishing bromance starts to crack when Sven admits he no longer wants to be Ole’s best man (Ope!). Deep truths, deeper questions, and a giant talking eelpout emerge from the frigid surroundings. La Crosse, WI native Paul Kruse presents a surreal comedy that is a boisterous and beautiful ode to Midwestern masculinity, friendship, queerness, and being a fish out of water.

Welcome (back) to Pemberley! Upstairs at the grand estate of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, Christmas festivities are in full swing. While downstairs, beneath the yuletide buzz, the servants bustle about. Their holiday rhythm is shattered when Lydia’s wayward husband, the rogue Mr. Wickham, stumbles in—uninvited, drunk, and dangerous. Secrets spill, loyalties are tested, and upstairs and downstairs collide in this witty companion to Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. Gunderson and Melcon deliver another heartwarming tale of class, chaos, and the generosity of forgiveness.