From now until May 23rd, when you buy your tickets for the world premiere of Bombs, Babes and Bingo by Merri Biechler from Mortar Theatre Company, get $4 off general admission with the discount code CLOWNCOLLEGE.

“Clown College Rule #1: The More the Merrier!”

Friends and supporters of Mortar Theatre Company,

Heroes have many different motivations.
Honor, Instinct, Pride, Love.

Over the past two years, Mortar Theatre has made it our mission to explore the stories of everyday heroes on our stage.

When you consider Mortar Theatre in your year-end donations, your motivation may be as simple as a tax deduction. Regardless, your actions have impact.

It is no exaggeration to say that the arts in America are funded by individuals. Grants, foundations and corporations do their part. But nearly 80% of all philanthropic dollars are contributed by individuals and bequests. However, arts organizations only receive 5% of these individual contributions. So when you make a tax-deductible donation to our non-profit arts organization, we consider you our hero.

As this calendar year comes to a close we’re asking for your help in continuing our mission. Ticket sales only cover a portion of the expense required to share these stories with you. The rest comes from people like you, our patrons in the truest sense of the word. As we celebrate the end of 2011 and look towards 2012, we hope you will consider making a financial contribution to help us continue creating and telling stories of everyday heroes.

Whether you are able to give or not, we also want to take this opportunity to thank you. Thank you for coming to our productions, thank you for telling your friends about them, thank you for your continued support of Mortar Theatre and the work that we do. We consider everyone who attends our productions a friend and collaborator, and that makes us very blessed indeed.

Have a wonderful holiday season, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2012.

Sincerely,
The Company Members and Staff of Mortar Theatre Company

source: http://www.nps.gov/partnerships/fundraising_individuals_statistics.htm

How do you like to Donate?

I’m an online kind of philanthropist
You can donate securely online through PayPal and Google Checkout.

I’d like to donate by mail
Any check dated by December 31, 2011 counts toward your deductions on your 2011 tax return. Mail to:

Mortar Theatre Company
3550 N. Lake Shore Dr. #814
Chicago, IL 60657

MOTHER BEAR is thrilling audiences.

“Fast–Moving, Semi Comedy, Big–Wheeling Thriller!”
“Trucker Pulp Fiction.”
“Playwright Jayme McGhan pens an intriguing modern day western.”
“Consider MOTHER BEAR in the no passing zone and let yourself get a ticket.”
– The Fourth Walsh

“A show rife with twists and reveals”
“MOTHER BEAR’s undeniable highlights are Elizabeth Styles’ tightly choreographed fight scenes, disturbingly genuine.”
“Dark comedy set in the lawless world of trucking”
– Centerstage Chicago

“MOTHER BEAR roars with danger.”
“MOTHER BEAR is the most entertaining [Mortar Theatre] piece I’ve seen.”
“3 stars!”
– Chicago Theater Beat

“Jayme McGhan’s tale of intrigue among outlaw truckers gets a detailed, evocative production”
“Director Boat supplies a detailed evocation of the milieu, buttressed by Farrell’s compelling, tormented-tough-guy take on Mother and the seen-it-all weariness Goode brings to the role of the kingpin’s long-suffering wife.”
– TimeOut Chicago

“Intriguing characters, life-or-death stakes, and confounding moral dilemmas”

– Chicago Reader

“Mortar Theatre Company has the appeal of a seasoned collective. This will be a company that continues to grow and outdo itself every year.”
– Windy City Writeups

And praise for the cast keeps rolling in…

“Jason Boat’s smart, committed cast provide vivid performances for this Mortar Theatre premiere.” – Chicago Reader

“[Brian] Plocharczyk [as Freely] gives a multi-dimensional, transformational performance.” – The Fourth Walsh

“Maria Enriquez [as Delia] plays it zealous and sassy.” – The Fourth Walsh

“[Jim] Farrell’s Mother is a King Lear of the open road.” – Chicago Theater Beat

“Dustin Whitehead [as Bones is] as vicious a villain as ever snarled his way across a stage.”
– Chicago Stage Style

“J. Kingsford Goode delivers one of the best performances of the evening with her portrayal of Vera, the owner of the Coyote Pass Truck Stop.”
– Windy City Writeups

Congratulations are in order. Samuel D. Hunter, playwright of I AM MONTANA, just received The Sky Cooper New American Play Prize. The prize celebrates the work of an American playwright and encourages the creation of bold, powerful new plays for the American stage.

Marin Theatre Company Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis said of Hunter’s winning play THE WHALE, “Sam Hunter has crafted a profound and deeply moving portrait of Charlie, a challenging, complex and epic character without parallel.”

Mortar’s production of I AM MONTANA by Samuel D. Hunter is the 1st of his plays produced in Chicago! We’re really proud to present this beautiful work by an amazing playwright to the city.

Join us tonight for our final night of Minimum Wage Tickets at the Athenaeum. $7.25/hr x 95 min means you pay just $11 for this Chicago premiere. There’s only 8 performances of left to catch I AM MONTANA!

And leave a comment for Sam congratulating him on this huge accomplishment!

On March 21 and 22nd, Mortar Theatre hosted the first reading in our Graphite Series. We had an amazing response, selling out the Monday night performance. After the two standing ovations, we definitely knew that Wendell Etherly’s MR. WELFARE had clearly struck a chord with the audience.

After each reading, Wendell came on stage to talk about life as a playwright, his work and to take some questions. Wendell has written a response below to one of the questions that we were unable to get to at the reading.

To all those that attended the reading and asked question, thank you.

—————–

In response to a patron who attended the stage reading of my play Mr. Welfare, I was asked whether I believed things had changed for the better, the worst, or perhaps hadn’t changed at all since the 1960′s. Well, I believe this is a question that would most likely result in a relative response given an assessment from a general consensus. In other words, it all depends on one’s experience, one’s walk of life, so to say. However, I can only convey through the lens of a Black experience. And I assume we are speaking ostensibly in terms of the social climate within this country, and it’s relation to the play, in addition to the characters perspectives concerning the society in which they lived.

Well, I certainly can’t speak for those who actually experienced the volatility of the 1960′s, or any era prior to it, for that matter. But I can speak as a derivative; the posterity of those generations, and in fact give a rather accurate account of how people of color felt during that time in our history. Now, being a fairly young man, I am SLIGHTLY removed from that form of societal oppression. My generation has been fortunate enough to witness the breach of many milestones within the political infrastructure of a country that once enslaved men and women of color. But based on history, and the awful habit of repeating itself, we’ve also been subject to witnessing remnants from this country’s imperialistic past, which in turn has caused many to become cynical of it’s direction. So I guess a simple answer to this question would be “I’m not sure”.

-Wendell Etherly

This season, we’ve created The Graphite Series to celebrate new voices and works in the Chicago theatre community. This Monday and Tuesday we will be presenting Wendell Etherly’s new work MR. WELFARE at Steep Theatre, 7:30 pm (Tickets $5).

We are lucky to have 8 amazing actors lending their talents to this special 2-night event. Read about the cast below.

Where would you have seen them?

James T. Alfred: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Court Theater Chicago (2009, Black Excellence Award – Best Actor). All’s Well That End’s Well, Public Theater (N.Y.). The Glass Menagerie, Steppenwolf Theatre.

Ray Baker: Last seen as Dove in the Collaboraction workshop of Jon and as Griggs in the Congo Square production of The Talented Tenth.

Kamal Angelo Bolden: Originated the role of Chad Deity in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Victory Gardens/Teatro Vista), played Winston in Athol Fugard’s The Island (Remy Bumppo), and played Court Theatre’s stage as Cephus Miles in Home.

Kelvin Davis: He toured with Theatre IV, the second largest touring children’s theater company in the nation. He performed in such shows as Hugs and Kisses, a show empowering children against child sexual abuse and critically acclaimed Buffalo Soldiers.

Carthy Dixon: He appeared in Raven Theatre’s Twelve Angry Men which received a Best Ensemble Jeff Award.

Erick Hampton: He has worked with Mortar Theatre Company’s Jacob Juntenen in The Uptown Trilogy 1: Inspiration Cafe through Scrap Mettle SOUL, a North Side acting troupe.

Jerod Haynes: Appeared in Contribution where he was nominated by the Black Theatre Alliance as “Most Promising Actor”.

Jon Sharlow: A Mortar Theatre Artistic Associate, Jon was last seen in Mortar’s Fall 2010 production of Under America.

We haven’t even opened Season 2 yet and we’ve got some big news about Season 3!

We are pleased to announce that Mortar Theatre has been chosen to open the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs’ Fall 2011 Season. The DCA Storefront Theater brings innovative productions from independent Off Loop theatre companies downtown into the Loop. Each season 3 companies are chosen to present their productions in the beautiful Storefront Theater on Randolph Street.

Corazón de Manzana
by Dana Lynn Formby

World Premiere Production Presented by Mortar Theatre Company

August 23 – September 25, 2011
Tickets on sale at DCATheater.org

Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph Street

Mixing realism, fantasy, and stylized choreography, Corazón de Manzana intertwines the lives of three mother/daughter pairs living in Canada, the United States, and Mexico to the tragic femicide occurring in Juárez, Mexico. A desperate cry for help reaches across borders to begin an investigation into a mother’s plea to find her missing daughter. As the discovery into the child’s disappearance unfolds, the connections between suffering and privilege in the three countries come into dramatic and heart-wrenching clarity.

“The city’s Cultural Affairs Department…is a fine showcase for all sorts of experimental work, and its newly announced fall 2011 season serves as evidence.”
-Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

We’ll be opening this exciting world premiere hot off the heels of our Second Season which runs through June. I hope you’ll be able to support Corazón and the premieres we have in store this season by pledging to our Kickstarter campaign here.

Blizzaster? Snowtastrophe? Snotorious B.I.G.?

Thursday's forecast. Source: Weather.com

Whatever you’re calling it, thankfully, it’s over (see graphic to left). So turn off your hibernation instincts and come share your tales of survival with the Mortar crew tonight at our Season Announcement Party!

We’ve got big news and secrets to share that we can’t even post online yet. So you’ll be the only ones in the know. Also, there will be fun, games, drinks and readings from our upcoming season. Play your cards right and we might drag you onstage with us.

Make your presence known on Facebook »

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 $20
6:30pm – Close (Open bar 7:00-8:00pm)
The Spot, 4437 N. Broadway Avenue, Chicago, IL