Playwright Kristine Thatcher Discusses "A Voice of Good Hope"
Jacob Malewitz
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Playwright Kristine Thatcher discusses "A Voice of Good Hope," a play now being featured at Boarshead Theater in Lansing, Michigan. The play is about the life of renowned female African American politician Barbara Jordan. For information on tickets go to boarshead.org. 
Jacob Malewitz: Can you tell us a general synopsis of what "A Voice of Good Hope" is about?
Kristine Thatcher: It's about a celebration of the life and times of Barbara Charline Jordan. [Jordan] was the first black woman elected to the Texas senate, and the first black woman from the deep south elected to the United States house of representatives. I take four snapshots of her life and together I hope they add up to who this powerful woman was.
She first came to national recognition during the Watergate hearings on the impeachment of Richard Nixon. They were very partisan until Barbara Jordan stepped up with the Constitution under her arm and just calmed everybody down. It's really about her life and an effort to particularly let young people get to know who she was.
JM:What else attracted you to write about Barbara Jordan?
KT: When I was about your age (22) I first saw her speak. She had this huge, powerful voice, but it was also the content of what she was talking about. So I became this huge fan and whenever I knew she was going to speak somewhere I would either be there or try to turn on the TV and watch her. She did the keynote address at a couple of Democratic conventions.
She was always the voice of reason, and very ethical, had a lot of integrity.
JM: How did you research for this play?
KT: It took about 2 1/2 years of research. (Jordan is) a very private figure so getting to understand her personally was very difficult. At the end of my script I have about three pages of bibliography because I had to dig through not only books but articles. There are a number of other characters in the play who are based on real people.
Robert Straus is one, who was the chairman of the Democratic committee, so I had to do a lot of research about him.
Kristine Thatcher
Date of Interview: 3/14/07Jacob Malewitz: Can you tell us a general synopsis of what "A Voice of Good Hope" is about?
Kristine Thatcher: It's about a celebration of the life and times of Barbara Charline Jordan. [Jordan] was the first black woman elected to the Texas senate, and the first black woman from the deep south elected to the United States house of representatives. I take four snapshots of her life and together I hope they add up to who this powerful woman was.
She first came to national recognition during the Watergate hearings on the impeachment of Richard Nixon. They were very partisan until Barbara Jordan stepped up with the Constitution under her arm and just calmed everybody down. It's really about her life and an effort to particularly let young people get to know who she was.
JM:What else attracted you to write about Barbara Jordan?
KT: When I was about your age (22) I first saw her speak. She had this huge, powerful voice, but it was also the content of what she was talking about. So I became this huge fan and whenever I knew she was going to speak somewhere I would either be there or try to turn on the TV and watch her. She did the keynote address at a couple of Democratic conventions.
She was always the voice of reason, and very ethical, had a lot of integrity.
JM: How did you research for this play?
KT: It took about 2 1/2 years of research. (Jordan is) a very private figure so getting to understand her personally was very difficult. At the end of my script I have about three pages of bibliography because I had to dig through not only books but articles. There are a number of other characters in the play who are based on real people.
Robert Straus is one, who was the chairman of the Democratic committee, so I had to do a lot of research about him.