Casting announced for world premiere of Mitera, opening at Berger Park's North Mansion in April

Casting has been announced for Strangeloop Theatre's world premiere of Mitera by Maria Burnham.

Directed by Company Member Letitia Guillaud, Mitera stars Allison McCorkle as Olga Sheridan, Holly Robison as Nitsa Sheridan, Lilly Apostolou as Dimitra Sheridan, Patricia Tinsley as Sharon Kaskalis and Michael Wagman as Dimitris Kokkinakis.

Set amongst a small Greek community in the American Deep South during the months preceding the Supreme Court's landmark decision in the gay marriage case Obergefell v. Hodges, Mitera tells the story of the Sheridan sisters who discover their mother, upon her death, has left their entire inheritance contingent on the youngest sister marrying within a year. If she fails to do so everything goes to their oldest male cousin in Greece. But the youngest sister is an unattached romantic who believes in marrying for love.

While the script is steeped in Greek-American culture and deals with the familial politics of same-sex relationships, Burnham said the script will be accessible to anyone who has ever disagreed with a family member, and especially to anyone who has ever been in love.

“Ultimately this is a story about love. Love between family members, the things people do for love, the bad choices people make in the name of love, the ridiculous lengths we go to out of love. That’s what makes all stories relatable regardless of setting,” Burnham said.  “It’s not the trappings of a play that make a story compelling or interesting to an audience, it’s the heart of the story being told.”

Burnham, who was raised in a small Greek-American community in Jackson, Mississippi, by her Greek mother and American father, said she pulled from her own life to create the characters in this play, but they are not based on any one person, and the story is completely imaginary.

“Although,” she added, “I could totally see my mom pulling something like this because she is really getting desperate for grandchildren.” 

You can find more backstory on Mitera via this blog or in this interview with the playwright from our fall fundraiser.

Mitera runs Thursdays through Saturdays April 7 through May 14 at 7:30 p.m. The site-specific production takes place at The North Mansion in Berger Park (6219 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60660).

Tickets are $5 for previews and $18 for the regular run and are available in advance through Brown Paper Tickets.

Thanks to those who attended the reading of Mitera!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the staged reading of Mitera on Monday evening. We had an engaged crowd that gave us some valuable feedback, which will help as we continue to develop this script with an eye toward production.

The reading, which took place at Celtic Crown on Western Avenue, was directed by Breahan Eve Pautsch and stared Allison McCorkle as Olga Sheridan, Holly Robison as Nitsa Sheridan, Cyra K. Polizzi as Dimitra Sheridan, Lona Livingston as Sharon Kaskalis and Tim Lee as Dimitris Kokkinakis.

Mitera, a new work written by Strangeloop Company Member Maria Burnham, centers around three, single sisters have their lives turned upside down when they find out their Greek mother is still micromanaging their lives from beyond the grave. Mitera pokes and prods the boundaries of family loyalty and examines the idea that sometimes the people we’ve known our entire lives are the people we know the least.

Mitera is part of Strangeloop Theatre's development series. A scene from Mitera was originally featured in our short play and new works development series, Loopshop, in 2013.

Strangeloop presents a staged reading of the new play, 'Mitera'

Join us for a free staged reading of Mitera, a new work written by Strangeloop Company Member Maria Burnham.

Three, single sisters have their lives turned upside down when they find out their mother is still micromanaging their lives from beyond the grave. Mitera pokes and prods the boundaries of family loyalty and examines the idea that sometimes the people we’ve known our entire lives are the people we know the least.

The reading is directed by Breahan Eve Pautsch and stars Allison McCorkle as Olga Sheridan, Holly Robison as Nitsa Sheridan, Cyra K. Polizzi as Dimitra Sheridan, Lona Livingston as Sharon Kaskalis and Tim Lee as Dimitris Kokkinakis.

Mitera is part of Strangeloop Theatre's development series. A scene from Mitera was originally featured in our short play and new works development series, Loopshop, in 2013. That version was directed by Elana Elyce, and starred Allison McCorkle as Olga, Stella Martin as Nitsa and Cyra K. Polizzi as Dimitra.

The reading takes place in upstairs room of the Celtic Crown (4301 N. Western Ave., Chicago).