With plays chronicling the struggles of minimum-wage retail workers, veterans, prisoners and Cabrini-Green tenants, the Mortar Theatre Company shines a spotlight on the untold stories of less-than-glamorous Americans. Instead of trying to connect Shakespeare’s “Richard the Third” to present day, the company puts on performances inspired by the 21st century.

Mortar, which was founded in October 2009, gained momentum in Chicago’s theater scene by producing new and original plays that focus on social consciousness and working-class people.Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs selected Mortar to perform at its Storefront Theatre, 66 E. Randolph St. , in August 2011, an annual honor given to three up-and-coming theater companies. Mortar’s founders said they wanted to spark a conversation within

the community.

“All of us [at the company] come from blue-collar backgrounds, and that was the inspiration where Mortar Theatre came from,” said Derek Garza, artistic director and founding member at Mortar. “We want to reach the Chicago community with a dialogue of everyday heroes who shape our society. All of us fully believe theater is a means for social change.”

After a successful opening season in 2010, the fledgling company kicks off its second season with a production of “I am Montana” on April 8 through May 1. Following this is a production of “Mother Bear,” which runs from May 27 to June 19.

Mortar chooses to showcase issues relevant to many Chicagoans. In “I am Montana,” an Israeli veteran returns to Montana to work a minimum-wage job at Valumart, an obvious allusion to Walmart. The play compares a soldier fighting in combat to battling a corporation.

“How do you fight an enemy who doesn’t use missiles but very low prices?” Garza said. “[One that] doesn’t roll over your neighborhood with tanks but with pavement?”

Garza said the company isn’t performing propaganda plays that hit audience members on the head with an issue but ones that raise awareness about both sides. At the

April 10 performance, a University of Illinois at Chicago economics professor will read a study he did on Walmart’s effect on urban environments.

“Theater started out of community dialogue, a way for people to express things,” said Stephanie Stroud, founding member and casting director for Mortar. “We’re getting back to that. It’s a dialogue between stage and audience, and we’re able to make it more of a public forum.”

The company’s plays are intended to entertain an audience and get people thinking about issues that may not affect them but others around them. Rachel Harvith, Mortar stage director, said the company wants to bring people together from different backgrounds and help them understand one another.

“There’s so much diversity in Chicago, yet people tend to hide in their communities,” Harvith said. “We want to bring different segments of the community together to talk about issues that are meaningful but also to get conversation going between people from different backgrounds who wouldn’t normally be in the same room together.”

This year, Mortar produced a reading of “Mr. Welfare” in its Graphite Series, which was performed on March 21 and 22 at the Steep Theatre, 1115 W. Berwyn Ave. This series gives playwrights a chance to see their work read aloud by actors. Mortar’s members work with outside writers on their pieces to get them ready for

future production.

“We’re having playwrights who haven’t had a voice, giving them an audience and helping them on their work,” Stroud said. “It’s a development section of our season.”

The group wanted to bring fresh ideas to production and introduce new voices to the city, Stroud said. Samuel D. Hunter, who wrote “I am Montana,” is working in Chicago for the first time. Stroud said the company wants to expand this concept in the coming years.

Mortar plans to produce three-show seasons in the future, said Dana Lynn Formby, Mortar’s literary manager and playwright. Usually, theater companies have one season a year. However, the Department of Cultural Affairs Storefront Theatre chose Mortar to open the department’s season with its “Corazon de Manzana,” written by Formby, on Aug. 23. The DCA selects three small storefront theatres every year to perform at its space, assisting with production and offering resources. This will kick off Mortar’s third season, putting it in line with traditional theater openings.

“We wouldn’t have gotten going so fast on the third season if it weren’t for the DCA choosing ‘Corazon,’” Harvith said. “We’re growing faster than we expected, which is great, so we’re in the process of deciding the rest of our third season.”

Mortar members hope to see the company continue to grow and eventually have its own space. Currently, the group rehearses at UIC and performs at various theaters across the city. Until then, Mortar will strive to inspire Chicagoans to look at theater as a form of entertainment and a way to be enlightened.

“We’re creating a forum where we’re not so much trying to educate society about problems but present art that facilitates discussion about these things,” Formby said. “What’s different about Mortar is we try to engage stories about people who have not been told before.”