An Integral Part of Professional Resident Theatre Companies

For our production of The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl opening Saturday, June 30, it has been necessary for us to search outside of the Commonweal professional resident company for the purposes of filling three female roles in the production. These guest actors, or seasonal actors as we refer to them, are quite valuable and provide an integral part of the success of the plays they are involved with. Without them, a majority of the productions you have seen on the Commonweal stage would not have made it there. Over the next few weeks, I will be introducing you to the seasonal actresses appearing in The Clean House. The first is a familiar face in that she made her Commonweal debut in last season’s Steel Magnolias and is also currently playing the role of Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Betti Battocletti.

Describe yourself in a sentence.

-I am a true Virgo with a twist; quirky and free-spirited but still very organized and pragmatic.

Where is your hometown?

– Milwaukee, WI

Where are you living now?

-Minneapolis, MN

What is the best part about that place?

-The city lakes and all of the great bike trails.

From your time at the Commonweal, what have you learned about the company?

– I have learned that the Commonweal is comprised of a small group of incredibly dedicated artists who, as a team, run all aspects of this amazing professional theatre company and make it work in such a surprising place as Lanesboro, MN.

As a child, did you have dreams of what you wanted to be when you grew up? What were those dreams?

-As a kid watching movie musicals on TV, being taken to live theatre by my parents and seeing my oldest sister in her high school production of Guys and Dolls, I knew that I wanted to be a dancer/singer/actress.

Guest Actress Betti Battocletti with Commonweal Theatre director Alan Bailey

Betti with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee director Alan Bailey

Why did you choose to take this role at the Commonweal?

-I enjoy working at the Commonweal, love Lanesboro, and thought that the parts that I was offered were challenging and would be fun to tackle.

Do you recall the moment or set of circumstances that led you to the stage?

I guess the same thing that I said above about childhood dreams. Started with little grade school shows, ballet classes, high School musicals and acting class. I had a great high School theatre teacher!

Tell us something about you that might be surprising.

-I spent a year bumming around the world by myself. Lived in Australia for 6 months. Ran out of money and had to work to get back to the States.

You love the live theatre. Why?

I love pretending to be someone else. As an introvert, I like the ability to touch people but still have the safety net of the space between the stage and audience. I like to move people as much as I like to be moved.