New play premieres in Rapid City

By Cindy Card, Special to the Journal | Friday, January 12, 2007

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Continuing legal education and the theater might sound like strange bedfellows, but Anna Marie and Graham Thatcher have made a career out of blending the two.

The couple will premiere their most recent work, “The Women Lawyers Club,” Thursday, Jan. 18, with an additional two shows Friday, Jan. 19, at Dahl Arts Center.

The show is a theatrical montage that commemorates women lawyers and non-lawyers and their historical contributions to the nation.

The cast of characters includes Margaret Brent, the first woman lawyer in the new world, Clara Shortridge Foltz, best known as the creator of the public defender system, and Blanche Coleman and Dorothy Rehfeld, early South Dakotan female lawyers.

Darla Drew Lerdal, director of program and development at the Dahl, said the Thatchers’ previous shows have always attracted a crowd. “I have talked to people who have seen their productions, and I know that they are always well-researched and well-performed,” Drew Lerdal said. “They know theater and also know the law. It’s a very interesting blend, if you will. To promote women lawyers, I think, is an important collaboration.”

She added that this is not the first time that art has mingled with law, and she does not believe that mixing the two is much of a stretch.

“The practice of law is verbal in the courtroom, so to incorporate theater with law seems to me a fairly easy jump,” she said.

The play stars Catherine Emberton, Joyce Jefferson and Carol Saunders, all of Rapid City. The Rapid City performance is sponsored by the Pennington County Bar Association and co-sponsored by the Rapid City Arts Council and the South Dakota Arts Council.

After its premiere, the production will travel to other cities in the spring and summer beginning with New Orleans.

The subject for the Thatchers’ most recent play has been in the making for a number of years.

“The idea came to us about four years ago, and we’ve actually been working doing research for the past three to four years,” Anna Marie Thatcher said. She said they spent about a year and a half writing the play.

The Thatchers operate Periaktos Productions, through which they create

theatrical productions that focus on continuing legal education as well as educating the public about the law.

Anna Marie said the name is derived from the Greek word “periaktoi,” which is a three-sided scenic device. The name is appropriate for their business because they see their purpose as threefold — to entertain, to educate and to enlighten.

For the past 14 years, they have been doing that — producing and touring their theatrical productions around the country.

Previous projects include plays about Clarence Darrow, Sir Thomas More and Justice William O. Douglas. Their 2005 play, “Thurgood Marshall’s Coming,” received the American Bar Association’s Silver Gravel Award in Theatre.

Both Anna Marie and Graham Thatcher share a penchant for theater. Graham is a professional actor and writer who has performed in all of their previous plays except this one, which he directed.

Anna Marie has a background in administrative work within the arts and nonprofit organizations as well as directing. She is currently the president of the Black Hills Playhouse Alumni Association. She earned a law degree in 1994.

That expertise has helped them write about subject matter such as ethical issues in the practice of law, conflicts between personal conscience and public loyalties and constitutional and civil rights concerns in dealing with the war on terror.

Linda Lea Viken, the outgoing president of the Pennington County Bar Association, said the topics in the Thatchers’ plays have an appeal to the general public and not only those in the legal profession.

“They are wonderful plays,” Viken said. “They always touch on issues that are old but yet ever-present — issues such as civil rights and moral choices, which are always part of life.”

She said the Pennington County Bar Association is pleased to have the privilege of sponsoring the premiere of the play.

“We think this play will be an inspiration, and we hope, will spur discussion. Obviously, we haven’t seen it yet, but we understand it covers the first woman lawyer coming to America in the 1600s all the way up to Sandra Day O’Connor,” Viken said. “Some of these women were lawyers even before they were allowed to vote. But the play is not just about women lawyers, but women’s contributions to law in general so it will appeal to more than just lawyers.”

She said the play will not focus only on the people we have heard of, but also the people we have not, but who have had a significant impact on the law.

“The Thatchers literally spend years writing these plays. They do research all over the country,” she said. “They’ll go back and read original manuscripts, writings, letters, newspapers, anything they can find that will authenticate the facts.”

She added that Anna Marie has a unique perspective that combines the two disciplines of theater and law that other people might not have. “Although some would say all lawyers are actors,” she joked.

“Our theater is small and the last production they had here just about sold out,” Drew Lerdal said. “My recommendation to the public is to buy early. We’ll expect it to sell out.”

If you go

· What: “The Women Lawyers Club”

· When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, a morning matinee at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 19, which includes coffee and muffins, and at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19, with an artist reception from 5 p.m.-7 p.m.

· Where: Dahl Arts Center, 713 7th St. Rapid City

· Admission: $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students. Tickets are available at the Dahl. Call 787-7099 or 394-4101.