Adapted from the novel written by Michael Perry with the same title “After a twelve-year absence, a real-life prodigal son returns to his hometown — New Auburn, Wisconsin, population: 485 — and joins the volunteer fire and rescue department.  In a place where men post claims of manhood on their truck bumpers, where the local vigilante is a farmer’s wife armed with a pistol and a Bible, and where the most senior firefighter is a cross-eyed butcher with one kidney and two ex-wives (both of whom work at the only gas station in town), writer Michael Perry sets out “to meet my neighbors at the invitation of the fire siren.”  The emergencies are real, the settings are surreal, and with each foray into the boondocks, we piece together the history of a people and a place.  By turns fiery and funny, violent and gentle, Population: 485 is the true account of a search for rootedness in a place from the past.”

The Hutchinson Theatre Company was started in 2002 with the first two productions of The Dining Room & Annie. In February 2003, a Board of Directors was formed and we received our 501(c3) non profit organization status.

Since 2003, the Hutchinson Theatre Company has produced three shows per year, a spring theater, a summer musical, and a fall theater production. We are dedicated to bringing people of different ages and backgrounds from Hutchinson and the surrounding area together to create high-quality community theater.

If you are interested in being a part of any of the productions, either as a cast member or behind the scenes, please contact us. Involvement is open to any individual or business.

Mission Statement

The Hutchinson Theatre Company develops high quality community theater for Hutchinson and the surrounding area.