From 1986 to 1991, the ensemble worked in rural communities,

creating 12 musical productions in 10 states. These shows were epic interactions between classic plays and specific American communities: Moliere's disintegrating and combative families in the Kansas farmland, Shakespeare's civil strife in the streets of Mississippi, and Aeschylus' ancient rituals on a modern Native American reservation.

Copyright Cornerstone Theater Company

In 1992, Cornerstone settled in Los Angeles, California,

to begin urban residency work.

The company's community-based projects in L.A. have played with definitions of community, including collaborations with:

communities of faith:

Catholic immigrants, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender people of faith, African-American churches, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc.;

geographic neighborhoods:

residents of Pacoima, Watts, Santa Monica, Boyle Heights,
Broadway/Hill (Chinatown), Baldwin Hills and Beverly Hills;

workplaces:

workers at Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles Police Department, the United States Postal Service and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority;

communities that share culture and language, age, birthday, and transportation:

Arab-Americans citywide, the Angelus Plaza a downtown low-income housing complex for seniors, people who share the same birthday: June 30th, citywide, mall-goers and bus riders citywide.

We've also worked in a lot of shopping malls, exploring their elevators, and service corridors....

Copyright Cornerstone Theater Company

And

We've been commissioned to collaborate with significant arts organizations, including:

Mark Taper Forum (Los Angeles, CA): For Here or to Go, a celebration of Cornerstone's 15th Anniversary featuring representatives from every L.A. community with which we have collaborated.

Great Lakes Theater Festival (Cleveland, OH): Peter Pan, a contemporized version adapted by Alison Carey and directed by Bill Rauch involved residents from northeast Ohio

Arena Stage (Washington DC): A Community Carol, an adaptation for the main stage from Dickens performed with a cast of professionals and residents of South East DC.

The New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater (New York): The Two Noble Brothers, an adaptation from Shakespeare/Fletcher performed with a cast including Lower East Side high school students.

Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles): bUS pLAy, an original play (C. Moore) and festival of short works performed on a city bus with casts including bus drivers and bus riders.

Touchstone Theatre (Bethlehem, PA): Steelbound, Alison Carey's version of Prometheus Bound with a cast of former steel workers and their families and neighbors, produced in the iron foundry of the closed Bethlehem Steel home plant.

Long Wharf Theatre (New Haven, CT): The Good Person of New Haven, adapted from Brecht, the final production of Long Wharf's 1999-2000 season was created over three years in collaboration with hundreds of community residents.

The Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, MN): The Falls, a community collaboration inspired by Thornton Wilder's The Long Christmas Dinner, written by Jeffrey Hatcher. Co-directed by Michael John Garcés and Bill Rauch during the inaugural season of the new Dowling Studio at the Guthrie Theater in 2006.