Cottage Theatre

Mission:

Cottage Theater: engaging and enriching our community through the magic of live theater.

Our core values:

Our core values are at the heart of our theatre community and guide everything we do. 

We are embracing.

We strive to create a welcoming environment where everyone's contributions are valued. We hold those who attend theatre and those who create theatre in equal regard.

We are aspiring. 

We act boldly, we work hard, and we have fun. We aim for excellence and a continually higher standard with every production. 

We are enduring. 

We manage with integrity and an eye toward the future, so that Cottage Theatre remains vibrant and thriving for future generations of participants and audiences.

History:

In 1982, Cottage Theatre's premiere production (Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water) was humbly presented beneath a parachute on the lawn behind The Village Green Motel & Restaurant. On the evening of the last performance, a fierce winter rainstorm - accompanied by high winds - swept away the parachute, forcing a cancellation.

The theatre's next play moved inside the Village Green. Around the same time, Cottage Grove Bank foreclosed on a 1,500-square-foot health food store that sometimes doubled as a church. Because the building had a small raised platform, it seemed like a dream come true - a "real" theatre! The bank agreed to lease the building for six years at a mere $60 a month. Despite the fact that actors found themselves outside as soon as they exited off-stage, and while tents, truck beds, and (later) tiny trailers functioned as dressing rooms, Cottage Theatre thrived for the next 15 years, presenting such acclaimed productions as Our Town, Oliver! and All My Sons.

Meanwhile, the city of Cottage Grove was growing, and when retail giant Wal-Mart announced it would open a store across the street from the modest Cottage Theatre building, the bank started shortening the terms of the theatre's lease renewals. If Cottage Theatre wished to survive, there was a new and pressing need for the group to have its own building.

Theatre supporters met to develop a plan. What might have seemed like a pie-in-the-sky idea arose: a state of the art theatre facility, built from scratch. The idea sounded a little less outlandish when the Woodard Family Foundation provided a $30,000 start-up grant.  Pledges began to roll in when seat sponsorships for the dream theatre were offered at $1,000 apiece. Cottage Theatre's musical group, Way Off Broadway, also raised $10,000 with a series of weekend benefit performances. The first large donor was Meyer Memorial Trust; their gift gave the nod of approval to the project, and soon other benefactors began to participate in the fund raising. In the summer of 1998, the $1.1 million Cottage Theatre facility opened with a gala celebration.

Within a few years, the theatre had established itself in its new home, and was growing rapidly. The number of performances, size of the audiences, and number of volunteers were all increasing. In 2006 Cottage Theatre took on an ambitious expansion project. This expansion included a doubling in the size of the lobby and restroom facilities and a 1,700 sq foot annex which doubles as a Rehearsal Hall and a space for children's camps and classes.

Since our humble beginnings under a parachute, we've proven that it takes more than a gust of wind to keep this theatre down. From our early days on a tiny stage to the "impossible dream" of a "real" playhouse, Cottage Theatre has flourished. We owe our success to strong community support and many, many dedicated volunteers.

Come join us and be part of our continuing story!