Reviews for Mitera are coming in

Reviews are in for Mitera, an examination of love set amongst a small Greek community in Mississippi, and both audiences and critics are responding favorably to this new work.

According to the Chicago Reader, playwright Maria Burnham "creates a compelling, layered world where ossified ethnic traditions provide comfort and trauma."

Windy City Times calls Mitera "an appealing play" and " a nice production, as directed by Letitia Guillaud in the extremely cozy living room of Berger Park's Gunderson Mansion, which we share with the actors in fly-on-the-wall intimacy."

And audience members have written to say they enjoyed "the production and the plot and the twists and the ACTING!"

Mitera runs through May 14 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. All performances for this site-specific production take place at 7:30 p.m. at the North Mansion in Berger Park (6219 N. Sheridan Road) in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased in advance through Brown Paper Tickets or at the door.

Set during the months preceding the Supreme Court's landmark decision on gay marriage, 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. Mitera examines the idea that sometimes the people we’ve known our entire lives are the people we know the least.

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.

Mitera: Cast and Crew Bios

Cast

Olga Sheridan:             Allison McCorkle+
Nitsa Sheridan:            Holly Robison^
Dimitra Sheridan:         Lilly Apostolou
Sharon Kaskalis:          Patricia Tinsley+
Dimitris Kokkinakis:      Michael Wagman^

Production Team

Playwright:                   Maria Burnham^
Director:                       Letitia Guillaud^
Production Manager:   Keith Gatchel^
Stage Manager:           Lisa Uhlig^
Production Designer:   Brad Gunter^
Dialect Coach:             Kate Jordan*
Costume Design:         Molly Mason
Marketing:                   Jean Burr+, Maria Burnham^
Graphic Design:           Mike Wozniak
Photographs:               Austin D. Oie

^Denotes a Strangeloop Company Member
+Denotes a Strangeloop Associate Company Member 
*Member of Actors Equity Association.

Mitera Bio: Letitia Guillaud

Letitia Guillaud (Director) is an Artistic Associate of TUTA and one of the Co-Artistic Directors and founders of Strangeloop Theatre.  This is the second production she has directed for Strangeloop. Previous credits include props design for Bo Thomas and the Case of the Sky Pirates (Babes with Blades), The Edge of Our Bodies and The Jewels (TUTA), directing The Sound of a Yellow Flower (Strangeloop) and acting in A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Robbers (Strangeloop).  She would like to thank her family (in-law and out-law), husband and little Felix for allowing her to continue in her theatrical experiments.

Strangeloop announces production team for Mitera

Rehearsals are underway and the production team is in place for Mitera, Strangeloop's spring show, which opens in April.

The team includes: Letitia Guillaud (director), Lisa Uhlig (stage manager), Molly Mason, (costume design), Kate Jordan (dialect coach), Keith Gatchel (production manager) and Brad Gunter (production designer).

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.

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.

French With Me 6: Lover's Eclipse

It wouldn't be French With Me without the love-based stories that started it all. So this week, leading up to the gala on Saturday, February 13, we'll be spotlighting the original performance pieces that have been created for this event.

First up, Lover's Eclipse - The Untold Story of the Sun and the Moon conceived by Letitia Guillaud, is the silly, unscientific and unseen love story that unfolds between the sun and the moon during an eclipse.

Performers: Letitia Guillaud, Tim Lee and Miona Lee.

 

French With Me 6: Le Salon takes place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 13, at Vagabond School of the Arts (4001 N Ravenswood Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60613). Tickets are $25 in advance or at the door, and are available now through Brown Paper Tickets.

Thinking Caps Bio: Letitia Guillaud

Letitia Guillaud (Headnet Voice) has a B.A. in Theatre from Ball State University. She is Co-Artistic Director and Development Director for Strangeloop Theatre, a Company Member at CIC, and an Artistic Associate at TUTA Theatre Chicago. Favorite roles include, Stella a.k.a. Pinkie (The Cockups - Mobilewave Films), Hermia (A Midsummer Night's Dream - Strangeloop) and Joan of Arc (The Maid of Orleans - Strangeloop). She is the proud new mother of baby Felix Gunter and would like to thank her husband and all of Strangeloop for their support in that endeavor.

French With Me: OK Stupid

OK Stupid, originally staged in 2013, returns to French With Me.

On the advice of her roommate, Maggie reluctantly joins an online dating service and preceeds to go on a series of increasingly bad dates, which culminate with one guy almost dying. But surprising things can come from the shared experience of near death and bad dates.

OK Stupid stars Maggie Gottlieb as Amy, Bobby Hoffman as Patrick, Charlie Madsen as Mark/Ralph and Noah Applebaum as Pete. The play was written by Strangeloop Co-Artistic Director Letitia Guillaud and is directed by Jessica Kent.

The piece is part of French With Me: A Classic Affaire. The gala event begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the The Charnel House in Logan Square, 3421 W Fullerton Ave., with a reception and silent auction. The performances begin at 8 p.m. with live music from Hollywood's golden age and dessert to follow.

Tickets are $25 and available at the door or in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.

Hack/Slash Bio: Letitia Guillaud

Letitia Guillaud (Production Manager) is a founder and Co-Artistic/Development Director for Strangeloop Theatre. Letitia has a B.A. in Theatre from Ball State University and since moving to Chicago has worked as an actor, writer, improvisor, director, props designer and production manager. She is a resident artist with CIC Theater and has been lucky enough to work with TUTA, Babes with Blades, Seanachai, Red Orchid, CIC, The Annoyance, iO and Bughouse. Most recently, she was seen as Hermia in Strangeloop Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and you can see her props design work in TUTA's upcoming Anyway Cabaret. She would like to thank her company, Brad Gunter and Tim Seeley.

Thinking Caps Recap

We had a great reception for Thinking Caps at the Greenhouse Theater Center on Tuesday evening. Thank you to everyone who came out and gave their feedback. We're looking forward to the next step in the development process for this script by Company Member Keith Gatchel.

Thinking Caps explores the upsides and downsides of virtual reality technology in the near future as seen through the lives of Charles and Maggie Cusick. The play is set in the near future in places both real and imaginary, in a time when the internet is all but dead and people communicate via telepathy and interact socially in a type of virtual reality known as the Headnet.

The staged reading was directed by Co-Artistic Director Letitia Guillaud. The cast was as follows:

• Charles                   Michael Houghton Wagman
• Maggie                    Maria Burnham
• Kim Ayers               Holly Robison
• David Scrab            Justin Cornwell
• Actor                       Nick Vidal
• Actress                    Patricia Tinsley
• Headnet Voice        Letitia Guillaud

The staged reading was produced as part of the Trellis reading series, Greenhouse's artist development program that showcases plays from playwrights who aren’t otherwise able to find a space for their work to be seen.

Put on your Thinking Caps and join us at the Greenhouse Theater Center

The near future. Websites and the internet are dead. Telepathy and Headsites are the new reality. Everyone who is anyone has a Thinking Cap and they live in a semi-virtual, semi-real world where imagination is the key to success.

But how far is too far when it comes to technology?

Thinking Caps, an original play by Strangeloop Company Member Keith Gatchel, explores the upsides and downsides of virtual reality technology in the near future.

The play will be presented tonight, September 2, as part of the Greenhouse Theater Center's Trellis staged reading series. The reading is free and open to the public. Thinking Caps starts at 7 p.m. at the Greenhouse Theater Complex, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The theater is located near the Fullerton red line el stop and the #8 bus stop at the Halsted Street, Lincoln Avenue and Fullerton Avenue intersection. Free parking is available in the garage at 2316 N. Lincoln Ave.

The play was originally part of Strangeloop Theatre's short play and development series Loopshop.

The staged reading is directed by Strangeloop Co-Artistic Director Letitia Guillaud. The cast includes Michael Houghton Wagman, Maria Burnham, Justin Cornwell, Holly Robison, Nick Vidal and Patricia Tinsley.

The Trellis reading series is Greenhouse's artist development program that showcases plays from playwrights that aren’t otherwise able to find a space for their work to be seen.

Come enjoy half price drinks at the Greenhouse bar, and help support new works by coming to the readings and giving your feedback!