MERCY KILLERS
​THREE WEEKS: EDINBURGH, SUMMER 2013
REVIEW by Anita Magee
Rating: 5 STARS
Raw, emotional and devastatingly honest. When Joe’s wife is diagnosed with cancer and the health insurance company refuses to pay, his life and his beliefs begin to fall apart. Broadway actor Michael Milligan’s solo show gives an insight into the destructive personal impact of the American health care system. It makes public the private stories of thousands of Americans and shows an urgent need for change in a system failing so many. His performance is incredibly powerful and passionate, sweeping the audience up in Joe’s story; making them laugh sometimes and bringing them to the edge of tears at others. Milligan has written a beautifully moving and thought-provoking piece that will leave you feeling a mixture of thankful, angered and saddened.
​BROADWAY BABY, SUMMER 2013
REVIEW by Brett Herriot
Rating: 4 STARS
Tucked away in the Baillie room of the Assembly Hall venue is a play tackling the healthcare crisis plaguing America and asks the vital question, how far would you go to help a loved one?
Written and Performed by Michael Milligan, this one man tour de force opens as the police arrive to question a husband whose wife has died in mysterious circumstances. What follows in the ensuing hour is a comment on the struggle for ordinary americans to access the health care and support they desperately need. Even with the promises of Barack Obama it’s still not enough for those living on the edge with a terminally ill loved one.
Milligan is able to blur the lines between truth and fiction to portray the immediate impact on the life of a man who is gripped by grief and raging at a system which has systematically let him down. His performance never falters through an array of emotional high and low points.
Tight direction by Tom Oppenheim ensures that Milligan’s story despite its serious nature is not without hope. Adding to the oppressive feeling of the piece is the choice of a totally pitch black theatre with dim, atmospheric lighting, an effective choice by the director and production team.
This is a wonderfully executed piece of political theatre, focusing not on those in power, but choosing instead to shine a light on the reality of the people are suffering and dying through lack of care. It highlights the flaws in a system which is only useful for those who can afford its privileges.
This is one man theatre at its very best and is something the fringe should embrace with gusto. If you love to be challenged by the theatre you’re watching and leave the theatre willing to ask the questions that make a difference then Mercy Killers is a shining example of provocative theatre and production you don’t want to miss out on.
PRESS
​BROADWAY WORLD: SUMMER 2013
Michael Milligan's MERCY KILLERS Wins Fringe First Award at Edinburgh Fringe Festival

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting's Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company has announced that Michael Milligan's Mercy Killers is the recipient of The Scotsman Fringe First Award at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Milligan's one-man play is inspired by America's horror stories of the uninsured, many of whom suffer financial tragedies on top of chronic illnesses. The festival performance featured the debut of Mercy Killers outside of the U.S.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world and takes place every August for three weeks in Scotland's capital city. The prestigious Scotsman Fringe First Awards celebrate the best new writing at the festival, as judged by the team of critics from Scotland's national newspaper, The Scotsman.
Over 60% of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are the result of medical debt. "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," says Milligan. "Mercy Killers is my attempt to translate those statistics into the actual human experience indicated by those numbers."
The play explores these themes through Joe, a man being interrogated by the police over the death of his terminally ill wife. A red-blooded American man, Joe is sympathetic to the Tea Party and the libertarian convictions of self-reliance and the free market. However, when his cancer-stricken wife has her health insurance revoked and they become trapped in the labyrinth of the health care system, Joe's faith in the American Dream is put to the test when he is driven to make a fateful act.
Milligan has appeared on several Broadway shows including August: Osage County, La Bete, and JerusalemWhile studying at Juilliard he won the John Houseman Prize for excellence in classical drama. A reading of his verse play, Phaeton, featured Mark Rylance, David Hyde Pierce and Joanna Lumley. He has previously received Four Stars for his performance of Lanford Wilson's one-man show, Poster of the Cosmos, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Milligan can be seen in New York City on September 19 at the Lucille Lortel Theater, where he will take part in a conversation about writing and performing in one-man shows. He will be joined by poet, spoken word artist and actor Lemon Andersen.
