Constable: Retired exec rekindles theater spark through 'Saint Joan'
Earlier this year, Libertyville mom Laura Thumel was director of global operations for risk and financial services at Willis Towers Watson, an $8 billion company with more than 40,000 employees serving more than 140 countries. Today, Thumel is the volunteer props designer for a cutting-edge, "all-femme" production of George Bernard Shaw's classic "Saint Joan," which explores issues for women in the workplace by moving the action from the battlefields of 15th-century Europe to the offices of a modern American television network.
Thumel "is one of the most incredible people I know," says Marylynne "Mac" Anderson-Cooper, the play's director. "She's doing a great job."
The transition from directing the show in the corporate world to taking orders from a theater director who celebrates her 25th birthday this week is easy because of Anderson-Cooper, Thumel says.
"It's all about her and what these phenomenal women are doing. This cast blends all ages, all ethnicities, and they are strong, capable women," Thumel says. "I've never felt out of place. Everyone is there because they believe in making cutting-edge theater, and I think that's fabulous."
President of the drama club at her all-girls Catholic high school in a suburb of Cleveland, Thumel not only played the lead roles at her school, but she also took on the top female parts for the neighboring all-boys high school. But she left the stage behind when she went to college.
"My father encouraged me to go into a more practical direction, a more employable direction," says Thumel, who graduated from Miami University in Ohio before getting her MBA at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
The theater bug stayed with her, however. When she retired in February from Willis Towers Watson after more than 31 years in that business, "I started looking for things to do in my retirement," says Thumel. "Theater was a love of mine."
Looking to get back into the arts, Thumel sought the advice of Anderson-Cooper, who majored in theater and Spanish at Northwestern University, where she was a good friend and classmate of Thumel's son, John, a chemical engineering major who died in a car crash at age 22 in 2015. When Thumel explained that she wanted to do more than just be an usher at "Hamilton," Anderson-Cooper said, "If you really want to get involved, I'm directing a show this fall."
Thumel says she loves the philosophy of the diverse casting in the all-female production that stars black actress Tiffany Renee Johnson as Joan, but Thumel also was a natural as props designer.
Anderson-Cooper re-imagined the play in a modern office, and Thumel had a lifetime of experience acquiring leather portfolios, clipboards, coffee mugs, electronic devices and the other accessories of today's workplace.
Her old office was moving, and Thumel got Willis Towers Watson to donate a conference table, chairs and other furniture. "I felt like I earned my keep by that move alone," Thumel quips.
The relationship between Anderson-Cooper, Thumel and the other women in the cast sends a message also found on stage, where women have the option of clashing or helping each other.
"Being a woman in charge isn't enough. You have to use your power to make space for other women's voices," says Anderson-Cooper, whose last name comes from her mom and dad. "I want the conversation to happen with our audiences."
Starting her retirement with such an interesting gig fits perfectly for Thumel, whose husband, Mike, and daughter, Alison, work in the corporate world but maintain an interest in the creative arts. "I love it," Thumel says. "It's cool to do something different."
"Saint Joan" opens Friday and runs through Oct. 29 at the downstairs main stage of the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N Lincoln Ave., Chicago.
For tickets and information, visit greenhousetheater.org/saintjoan, Instagram or Facebook.