In Good Company

What if democracy is, quite literally, a movement–one that starts with putting one foot in front of the other, shoulder to shoulder, as we walk toward an unknown future?

In Good Company, a walking theater production, immerses audiences in a dreamlike experience that explores the power and practice of civic imagination among local, living communities. As we seek to realize the promises of democracy in the places we call home, In Good Company invites audiences to reflect on how we embody our ideals of community as we live and move through our city streets.

The walk begins at 3PM at The Germanic-American Institute St. Paul (301 Summit Ave.) and travels by foot to Raspberry Island (2 Wabasha St. S.), returning around 6PM to the Germanic-American Institute for a meal together. The performance will conclude around 7pm.

Audiences will step into a gathering of voices and perspectives, imagining themselves and their neighbors as delegates of humankind—each striving for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Together, they engage with a question that belongs to all of us: When we see our world differently, how do we still move forward together? How can we reconcile our diverse visions of the future and collectively dream our way toward a more perfect union?

In Good Comapanyis created and performed by Chicago-based Theatre Y, an ensemble dedicated to radical inclusion and public engagement through performance. The project was initiated by the Goethe-Institut Chicago, Germany’s global cultural institute, as part of a national series that explores how shared public experiences can foster understanding, empathy, and civic imagination across diverse communities. In Milwaukee, the walk is organized in collaboration with the Germanic-Amerian Institute St. Paul.

In all three cities, the project features a collaboration with Helgard Haug of the internationally renowned German performance collective Rimini Protokoll, known for radically expanding the possibilities oftheater in public space. 

With a playful spirit of open-mindedness, In Good Company  embraces all walks of life in a one-of-a-kind theatrical event that incorporates site-specific theater, music, spectacle, public dialogue, and ceremonial transformation to create new civic rituals of belonging.

Maybe–just maybe–when we walk together on the same ground, we might be surprised by just how common our ground can be.