Mercy Killers, A Play Inspired by Health Care Horror Stories, Featured in State-wide Tour

Mercy Killers, a special, topical one-man play that highlights the ongoing plight of the uninsured, many of whom suffer financial tragedies on top of chronic illnesses, will be presented in venues throughout California from November 7 – November 22, 2013.

The tour, organized by the Campaign for a Healthy California, a coalition of over 25 health care and community organizations, will also feature panel discussions with local advocates and audience members after each performance to explore the next steps in finishing the job of healthcare reform in California.

The tour is timed to coincide with the recently launched Affordable Care Act (ACA). It is projected that between three and four million Californians will remain uninsured after the ACA is fully implemented.

Broadway actor, Michael Milligan, was inspired to write the play by the horror stories that remain so prevalent in our broken healthcare system.

“Over 60% of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are the result of medical debt,” says Milligan. “And what most people don't realize is that in the majority of those bankruptcies, the person involved actually had insurance at the onset of their health crisis. Mercy Killers is my attempt to translate those statistics into the actual human experience indicated by those numbers.”

The CHC, including the California Nurses Association, the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA) and the California National Organization for Women (NOW), says the work of needed healthcare reform is not finished by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

“While the ACA will extend health coverage to a number of low and moderate income individuals and families, we still need guaranteed universal coverage with a single standard of high quality care that is not based on ability to pay. That would be best achieved through single payer reform, as in expanding and updating Medicare to cover all Americans,” says Martha Kuhl, RN, CNA treasurer and a nurse at Children’s Hospital in Oakland who represents CNA in the coalition.

“Milligan’s acting is superb, and I was completely engrossed in the story from beginning to end. Through this compelling play and the lively discussion we expect to follow each performance, we hope to encourage audience members to join us in the campaign to work toward guaranteed healthcare for all so that no one has to experience the pain and suffering and financial calamities, documented in this play,” Kuhl said.

The play, directed by Tom Oppenheim, will be brought to California in collaboration with the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company. Playwright/actor, Milligan, has appeared in several Broadway shows including “August: Osage County” "La Bete," and "Jerusalem." While studying at Juilliard he won the John Houseman Prize for excellence in classical drama. Michael has performed at many of the Nation’s leading regional theaters such including the Guthrie, Westport Playhouse, McCarter Theater, The Shakespeare Theater, The Folger, and many more.

Previews of the play Mercy Killers are available by request.

Visit HealthyCaliforniaCampaign.org or click city links below for ticket inforamtion.

NOVEMBER 7, 2013 | 7:00 PM
Warren Atherton Auditorium
San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton
Spanish/Espanol

NOVEMBER 8, 2013 | 6:00 PM
Del Oro High School Auditorium
3301 Taylor Road, Loomis

NOVEMBER 9, 2013 | 7:00 PM
Colonial Theater
3522 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento

NOVEMBER 11, 2013 | 7:00 PM
Veteran’s Memorial Center Theater
203 E. 14th Street, Davis

NOVEMBER 13, 2013 | 6:00 PM
Westminster Outreach Center
27287 Patrick Avenue, Hayward

NOVEMBER 14, 2013 | 10:00 AM
First Unitarian Universalist Church
1187 Franklin Street, San Francisco

NOVEMBER 14, 2013 | 6:30 PM
City College of San Francisco
Mission Campus, Rooms 107 & 108
1125 Valencia Street, San Francisco

NOVEMBER 15, 2013 | 6:00 PM
Easter Hill United Methodist Church
3911 Cutting Blvd., Richmond

NOVEMBER 16, 2013 | 7:00 PM
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
Local 332, 2125 Canoas Garden Avenue, San Jose

NOVEMBER 17, 2013 | 4:00 PM
Kern Central Labor Council
200 West Jeffrey Street, Bakersfield

NOVEMBER 18, 2013 | 8:00 PM
San Luis Obispo Public Library Community Room
995 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo

NOVEMBER 20, 2013 | 7:30 PM
IATSE Local 80
2520 West Olive Avenue, Burbank (LA)
Spanish/Espanol

NOVEMBER 22, 2013 | 7:00 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Church, Bard Hall
4190 Front Street, San Diego