BWW Blog: Michael Milligan of Off-Broadway's MERCY KILLERS - A Leap Into the Void!

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A Leap into the Void! musings on the upcoming run of Mercy Killers, by Michael Milligan

Over a year ago, I took a detour in my career. That's a polite way of saying "I took a leap into the void." Years of being a journeyman regional theater actor had taken their toll. Leaving me broke and uninspired. So, I was developing my one man play, Mercy Killers, in response to a series of personal experiences with the healthcare system. The idea that a year later we would be opening this show Off Broadway would have been absurd! But here we are and Thoreau's famous quote comes to mind:

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours."

That quote, minus the "confidently" part, sums up the wild ride that has brought Mercy Killers from a rented community theater in Columbus, OH., to a Dr.'s living room in Toledo, a Comedy Club full of medical students, at the State Capitol for an audience of Minnesota state legislators, small towns across Ohio and Minnesota, Philadelphia, the Edinburgh Fringe, a radical "anti-bedroom tax rally" in rural Scotland, Chicago, Philadelphia, Virginia, and most recently, a 14 venue tour of California with the California Nurses Association and The Campaign for a Healthy California... to its Off Broadway premiere.

Not exactly the route I would have imagined.

If you work in the arts long enough, you will inevitably become aware that artists as a demographic are horribly marginalized by our healthcare system. This will change somewhat under the Affordable Care Act, more so in New York where we tend to be ahead of the curve. But there will continue to be ridiculous scenarios, incredible waste, jumping through hoops, interruption of care, lack of access, underinsurance and periods of uninsurance. But I digress- as a guest blogger, maybe I'll revisit some of this in later posts!

As artists we tend to lurk under the table living off falling crumbs from the table of plenty. I know an absolutely brilliant painter from my hometown, absolutely brilliant, whose artwork decorates many a McMansion- he is well loved and regarded by swanky circles, and he has never been able to afford insurance. After a couple surgeries and bankruptcies, this fine artist has to deal with debt collectors and the unending anxiety, of not only possible relapse, but also, the accompanying financial devastation. I have a hundred stories like this, this is just the one that came into my head. Some of them are very personal. Some about former partners, friends, and myself. And they all fill me with rage and the urgent need to keep on performing this play until the American heart finally breaks. And we can take the health of those we love the most out of the hands of those who see potential profits in human misery.

So, anyway. I was one of these artists living on crumbs. We are so used to giving, to adapting ourselves to whatever circumstances to please a director, or an agent, or a casting director, or a producer, or a managing director, etc. etc. Until it becomes a kind of virtue. Until there are actually classes you can take to practice how to fawn and kiss backsides in a more effective manner. I'm not sure this is the way to make great art, by the way. But this kind of habit of kneeling and bowing, has made us too adaptable and accepting of inhumane conditions. People who give so much, who create so much love and joy in the world, should not be left out in the street when the wheel of fortune turns against them. Least of all then, when help is needed most.

So, this play for me, is my way of standing up. Of stepping into the sphere of creation, of deciding what art is, of not leaving it to producers, taste makers, or people with bags of money. I am a worker in the arts. I make the art. And what I make comes from my joy in working. I am no longer a drudge. I am no longer an indentured servant. I am no longer a mercenary. I am a warrior. All I need is a chair, a table, a light, and an audience. And this is the best thing I've ever done.

Come check it out. I wrote it for you.

Mercy Killers is written and performed by Michael Milligan, presented by the Working Theater and Harold Clurman Lab Theater.