Family takes center stage for Logan Square director

Family, food and female characters are all part of what drew actress and director Letitia Guillaud to her latest project, Strangeloop Theatre’s production of Mitera.

“I love intimate stories with female central characters,” Guillaud said. “With this one, they are sisters, so you also have a wonderful family dynamic, and I love the humor in the dialogue.”

The Logan Square resident is directing the play, which officially opens Thursday, April 14. Mitera tells the story of the Sheridan sisters who discover their mother, upon her death, has left their entire inheritance contingent on the youngest sister marrying within a year. If she fails to do so everything goes to their oldest male cousin in Greece. But the youngest sister is an unattached romantic who believes in marrying for love. Mitera pokes and prods the boundaries of family loyalty and examines the idea that sometimes the people we’ve known our entire lives are the people we know the least.

“I think everyone can relate to the family story being told here,” she said. We all know these relationships, Greek or not, and we know the stress, joy and sometimes pain that happens around big family events like funerals and weddings.”

Guillaud was especially drawn to the script because she comes from a family that is bilingual and bicultural as well. She and her middle brother were born in France and moved to the United States with her family when she was very young.

“While we didn't have a community of French people around us, there are definite echoes from my upbringing in this script,” she said. “I know what it is like to have another language and culture be a part of your everyday life.”

This is Strangeloop’s first site-specific play, said Guillaud, who serves as one of the company’s artistic directors and is also a founding member. The play, which takes place entirely in the Sheridan family’s living room, is being staged in the living room of a mansion at Berger Park.

“It is a gorgeous space, right next to the lake,” Guillaud said. “The audience will be sitting right there, in the room, within arm’s length of the actors, as if they are just another member of the family.”

Family has been an important theme, not just in the play, but to the process Guillaud used to bring the work to life.

“I love to cook, which has been one of the fun side effects of this process,” she said. “For our first meeting, I had the cast over, and we cooked some Greek dishes, while Maria (Burnham), the playwright, answered our questions about her upbringing and various Greek traditions. By the end, we were laughing, talking, drinking and eating like a real family. That is my favorite thing about food – its ability to bring people together.”

Food is also one of the things she loves about her neighborhood, Logan Square. Though the neighborhood has changed quite a bit since she and her husband arrived, restaurants new and old are part of what she’s always loved about the area, she said.

“I've always loved the food, the tree lined streets and the many parks,” she said. “As new people move into the area, the interest in the arts continues to grow, so I really love that creative atmosphere.”

After Mitera, Guillaud is taking a break to focus on her family, which includes her 1-year-old son, Felix. In addition to directing Mitera, Guillaud also recently designed the props for The Edge of Our Bodies – the current TUTA theatre production.

TUTA’s The Edge of Our Bodies runs through April 17 on Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. at the TUTA space in Ravenswood Manor. More information is available at tutato.com.

Strangeloop Theatre’s production of Mitera runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. from April 14 through May 25 at The North Mansion at Berger Park. More information is available at strangelooptheatre.org.

And audiences can see her in the independent film The Cockups, which is touring to art house cinemas and festivals around the country.