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  • February 04, 2015

    Lavinia Explores Path Forged by Wisconsin’s First Woman Licensed to Practice: Premieres March 19-21 in Madison

    Betty Diamond

    “I thought it would be interesting to see who the person was behind the history book fact,” says Betty Diamond, the playwright behind Lavinia.

    Feb. 4, 2015 – It took an act of Legislature for one lawyer to practice law before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

    Who she was and how she forged a path for the future of the practice of law in Wisconsin is the subject of the play Lavinia that will be staged for the first time next month in Madison.

    The play explores the life and influence of the first woman licensed to Wisconsin’s bar, Lavinia Goodell.

    Lavinia – a play about history – is itself making history, with the first-ever performances taking place this spring in Madison, Janesville, and Wausau, and a reading to take place in Superior.

    More than a Historical Fact

    Betty Diamond, playwright and Professor Emerita of Languages and Literatures at UW-Whitewater, started working on the play in 2012. Diamond became interested in Goodell after conversations with Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson – the pair first became acquainted in 1998 when Diamond directed a play commissioned by the Supreme Court for Wisconsin’s sesquicentennial celebration.

    “I thought it would be interesting to see who the person was behind the history book fact,” Diamond said.

    The play, according to Diamond, is of interest to lawyers across the state because it portrays a crucial moment in Wisconsin’s law history. It explores what it took for Goodell to overcome challenges and to open the legal profession to all women in Wisconsin.

    While a reading of the play was performed in March 2013, the Madison Theater Guild performances will be its stage premiere.

    “I’m very excited,” Diamond said, “and nervous, of course. The readings were so wonderful. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when it’s in full production.”

    The performances are thanks to a Wisconsin Humanities Council grant to the Wisconsin Law Foundation in partnership with the State Bar of Wisconsin.

    Pre-show presentations and post-production discussions at the performances will be led by legal and Humanities experts to help the audience explore the history and issues raised by the play.


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