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.
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.
Megan Pence (Henrietta Leavitt) — The epilogue. Every time I hit the phrase “And I know that distance is only space and time…and for some of us, light,” I feel the catch in my throat because it so perfectly encapsulates life’s journeys. As I finish my time here at the Commonweal, I know that it is not the end, but rather a shift. And that my time here truly has been measured in light.
I am pleased to announce and am very excited to start graduate school work to earn a Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Acting from Michigan State University. As I prepare to leave Lanesboro and Commonweal, little things here and there keep reminding me of my first experiences at this theatre and the ways it has positively impacted my life. I joined Commonweal in 2015 as a member of the apprentice class for the season. I was 21, fresh out of undergrad and had zero professional experience under my belt. I was also pretty nervous. I remember the first show I saw at Commonweal, which was 
The next day, I had my first of many waffles at Spud Boy diner, then walked on the trails and introduced myself to the exceptional beauty of the Driftless Region. 
