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.
What is Mitera about? Mitera
is the story of three, single adult sisters who live at home and have
their lives turned upside down when they find out their mother is still
micromanaging their lives from beyond the grave. As the play begins,
they discover their mother has left their entire inheritance contingent
on the youngest sister marrying within a year of her death, otherwise
everything goes to their oldest male relative in Greece. But the
youngest sister is an unattached romantic who believes in marrying for
love. 
Is this a story that will be relatable to people who aren’t Greek? Ultimately
it 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. Audiences relate to Les Miserables
despite having no firsthand experience with the French Revolution. 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. 
