The Martindale Sisters of La Crosse Project

The Martindale Sisters Project, a dramatic play reading, will be presented at 7:00 pm, June 7, in the 3rd floor ballroom of the Bentley & Wheeler Bed & Breakfast at 950 Cass Street in La Crosse. A play reading is a form of theater without costume and with minimal stage movement in which actors read the scripts, which may undergo further development. The event is free and open to the public.

 

The Martindale Sisters Project reveals the historical variety and complexity of progressive, young women, Katharine and Henrietta Martindale who stood out for their boundary-pushing interests and achievements in early 20th century midwest America. The sisters represent the last of the Martindales, an old and prominent family of early La Crosse, whose bright yellow and elegant Italianate style house is still easily recognizable on the corner of 10th and Cass Streets.

 

In 2010, Teri Holford, engagement librarian at UWL’s Murphy Library discovered the story of these two sisters and approached Beth Cherne, Theatre Arts professor at UWL, to consider creating a theatrical adaptation of the letters. The result is a dramatic production, written by Cherne, that focuses on a lifetime of handwritten letters between the two sisters.

 

According to Holford, “After poring through fifty boxes of documents and ten boxes of family photos, the characters became real to us. We saw them change and grow, everything from their handwriting to their advocacy as women who challenged the male-dominated status quo of their era. This fascinating story comes to life through Cherne’s theatrical interpretation.”

 

The letters that are featured in the play were written during different stages of the sister’s lives, from roughly 1915, when the two women were college students and into their adulthood during the early 1960’s. The letters are a part of the Katharine Martindale Family Papers, which is preserved in the Murphy Library Area Research Center.

 

The evening reading will present a snapshot of where the project is at this point in time, with several local actors taking on roles, a panel discussion with local historical and theatrical experts, and live piano music.

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If you go:

 

What: The Martindale Sisters Project play reading

When: 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Where: Bentley & Wheeler Bed & Breakfast, 3rd Floor Ballroom, 950 Cass Street, La Crosse

Cost: Free and open to the public