MERCY KILLERS Embarks on Tour for a Cause

Joe loves apple pie, Rush Limbaugh, the fourth of July and his wife Jane. He is blue-collar, corn-fed, made in the USA and proud, but when his uninsured wife is diagnosed with cancer his patriotic feelings and passion for the ethos of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are turned upside down. In Mercy Killers, a new one-man play, Joe struggles with the uniquely American experience of losing your health in the land of plenty.

Michael Milligan is the author and performer of Mercy Killers. He has been a professional actor since graduating from Julliard in 2001 (where we received the John Houseman Prize!) He's performed on Broadway in August: Osage County and La Bete as well as many other productions Off- Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. His real bread and butter has been performing in many of our nation’s incredible regional theaters and Shakespeare festivals like the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and the Shakespeare Theater in D.C.

Mercy Killers is a play about what it can be like for working people to face a major health crisis in America. There have been a number of benefit performances of it in Minnesota in collaboration with Health Care for All Minnesota. Here’s what state senator, John Marty had to say about it:

‘Michael Milligan's "Mercy Killers" is a powerful play that illustrates the urgency of replacing our dysfunctional health insurance system. In this painfully accurate portrayal of the personal struggles of one couple, Milligan makes public the suffering that thousands of American families experience in private. I was inspired by the performance, and energized to move our state from health insurance for some, to health care for all.’ John Marty, State Senator, MN.

There will be a ‘micro-tour’ of Mercy Killers in collaboration with local health care advocacy groups to raise awareness about our dysfunctional health care system. He has reserved a theater in Columbus, Ohio (the swingin’ city of the swing state) for a 3 week run in Feb/March. While in Ohio the tour will be traveling to towns like Toledo, Akron, Dayton, Medina, and Oberlin to share the story and help generate support for local single-payer advocacy groups. After the Ohio trip, he'll be heading off to Minnesota and New York to work with advocacy groups and progressive organizations to share Mercy Killers in both big cities and smaller communities around the states to help raise awareness about legislation to create single payer systems at the state level.

Unless there is a benefit for a specific organization, performances of Mercy Killers will be free and open to the public (with an invitation to make a donation at the end of the show to help keep the tour going!) Your contribution will help generate an audience of people who normally would not attend the theater. It will help pay for transportation, marketing, a small artist’s fee and in some cases, the rental fee for venues.

Mercy Killers is a powerful story and tool for raising awareness about our health care system.  To make donations and for more information, visit: http://www.indiegogo.com/mercy-killers

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