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Information for Clients
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_____________ is pleased to announce that it will bring Thurgood Marshall's Coming!! a play about civil rights lawyer and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to __________ on _________. The full-length solo performance, coauthored by Anna Marie and Graham Thatcher, features Minnesota actor, T. Mychael Rambo, in the leading role. Through their company, Periaktos Productions, the Thatchers create theatre and tour productions for Continuing Legal Education programs that focus on ethical issues in the practice of law. Their repertoire also includes Clarence Darrow: Crime, Causes and the Courtroom, that focuses on four of the lawyer's most famous cases, Impeach Justice Douglas!, about Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Maxims, Monarchy and Sir Thomas More, about the English Chancellor beheaded by Henry VIII and The Women Lawyers' Club, that portrays stories of some of the most noted women who have impacted the law and the American legal system. The American Bar Association awarded Thurgood Marshall's Coming! an Honorable Mention Award in Theater in its 2005 Silver Gavel Awards Competition for Media and the Arts. Clients include the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism in Georgia, the National Diocesan Attorneys Association of the U.S. Catholic Conference, the 10th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals and numerous state and local bar associations and law schools.The U. S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas in 1954 legally ended racial segregation in the public schools of the United States. The lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the cases that, together, are now known as "Brown," was Thurgood Marshall, a passionate and embattled civil rights lawyer. Thurgood Marshall is one of the giant figures in the history of American jurisprudence. He was born into poverty and grew up in the Jim Crow racism of the early twentieth century. He became the first African American Solicitor General of the United States and then the first African American to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Marshall was called "Mr. Civil Rights" by some, but he never wanted to be known as a "civil rights leader." He saw the law as the arena where minorities and oppressed citizens could find relief and he wanted to be known first, last and always as a lawyer. In the end he was a powerful, resourceful and successful advocate for individual human and civil rights and serves as a model for tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds.
Thurgood Marshall's Coming! is a full-length play that portrays Marshall as an old man as he ruminates and relives past trials and victories. Marshall is played by veteran actor, T. Mychael Rambo, of St. Paul, Minnesota, who is well known in for his work as an accomplished actor, vocalist, and educator. He has performed principle roles with all of the major theatres in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN, including the Guthrie Theatre, Penumbra Theatre, Minnesota Opera, Ordway Music Theatre and Mixed Blood Theatre and the Children's Theatre, and has appeared on several regional and national stages. Marshall was a master of language, story telling and imitation, and the play uses all of these to create a powerful solo presentation. He is direct without being too blunt or rude and he "tells it like it is," without pulling any punches. His sense of humor and equanimity balance some of the bitterness he felt in his long journey and his legal arguments and rhetorical style are at once evocative and entertaining. Using Marshall's own reflections, the play provides an engaging tool to explore racial and civil rights issues and facilitate audience discussion.
Thurgood Marshall's Coming! will be presented on ________________________ at _________. in ____________________. Registration is ______ . For further information call _______________ at _______________. **
** Include registration fees and information about CLE, a post-performance discussion, who is sponsoring the show and any other pertinent information about the program or sponsor organization.