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The local playwright turned her struggle with MS into an affecting one-woman show.

Monday Oct 13, 2008.     By Sarah Terez Rosenblum

Theater Feed

Born an imaginative kid, both theatrical and bashful, Mierka Girten moved from Cincinnati to Chicago to attend graduate school at the DePaul Theatre Conservatory. Thrilled by the city's diversity, the "different colors and flavors of people, the trains, the architecture and the art," she pushed enthusiastically forward, undeterred by Chicago's pace, her lack of money, even the strange tingling she began to feel in her foot. Eventually, Girten was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a diagnosis which, although initially overwhelming, she eventually chose to meet head-on. With her disease in remission, Girten, a successful Chicago actress, has gone on to write and perform a one-woman show about coming to terms with MS as well as found Mookie Jam, a not-for-profit designed to benefit artists suffering from the disease.

When we sat down to talk at Andersonville's Kopi Cafe, Girten, warm and witty, spoke enthusiastically about everything from her show, "With or Without Wings," to her favorite Chicago haunts.

How exactly did "With or Without Wings" come about?
I'm a very passionate journal writer and when I toured with "A Secret Garden" I would write in my journal every day. I shared some of the entries with a friend of mine who was on tour with me, Michael Thomas, and he said, you should write a play. I wrote the first version so 50 of my friends could be in the show with me, and everyone made fun of it. I didn't really get into the dirt, the ugliness about my depression and my suicide attempt, so Michael made me go into bathrooms and closets and talk into a tape recorder about specific feelings and really be honest. I'm an actor not a writer, so I'd sit down at the computer and I'd have to become each character in order to get the words out of my mouth. We improvised a lot.

How long did the whole process take?
About two years, just going through journal entries and sort of picking things out. The first time I did the show it was a little more presentational. My narration was cuter, I hid all my tattoos, I didn't want anyone to think anything bad about me. Now that I'm older I'm like, I have tattoos, I'm not gonna hide the fact that I have hips. I'm able to scream and yell this time and start to cry, whereas before I repressed that because I didn't want people to think my diagnosis made me weak somehow. Now it's just a part of who I am.

Tell me about Mookie Jam.
Well, it seems sort of self-indulgent to do a play about my disease and then keep the cash. I figured if I could make money from the play I could give it to somebody who needed assistance. People who apply have to prove they're an artist, that they have MS and that they don't have a whole lot of money. Like Montel Williams, I would not be able to get him a grant. It's very grassroots. All these artists donate their artwork and we have professional musicians who play. It'll be my ninth year this year. It's a Chicago-based thing.

Speaking of Chicago, what's your favorite Chicago hidden gem?
I live in Lincoln Square and I wrote a lot of this play at the Huettenbar which is in the square. It's a German bar. There's some real serious German people who go there. I know all the locals, all the regulars.

If I came to Chicago where would you insist I visit?
The Morseland. That's in Rogers Park. Fabulous food. They're very open to everybody, every color, every person, very eclectic; it's a groovy little spot. It's where we're holding Mookie Jam this year. They gave me the space for free. They're just very good people, very considerate to people's needs and their individuality.

Finally, any Chicago related advice?
Be careful where you park your car. I lost my car in a snowstorm and I couldn't find it for three months.

"With or Without Wings" runs through November 2 at A Red Orchid Theatre.