San Francisco Mime Troupe
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The San Francisco Mime Troupe (mime is pronounced as 'meme') is an award winning theatre of political satire , which performs free shows in various parks in the San Francisco Bay Area and around California. The Troupe does not, however, perform silent mime, but each year creates an original musical comedy that combines aspects of Commedia dell'Arte, melodrama, and broad farce with topical political themes.
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[edit] History
The group was founded in 1959 by R. G. Davis as medium to express his divergent theatrical concepts. The group debuted with Mime and Word (1959) and The 11th Hour Mime Show (1960). However, by 1961, the group transitioned to the Commedia dell'Arte format to more thoroughly comment on perceived political repression in the United States of America, the growing Civil Rights movement, and American military and covert intervention abroad. In the mid-1960's the group started to rely less on the direct Commedia dell'Arte format and transtioned into a more rambunctious, satirical style. It also began integrating elements of Jazz into its musical composition, eventually leading to the inclusion of a jazz band within the troupe. The group gained significant notoriety for its free performances in Golden Gate Park (in which it would collect donations after performances) and numerous altercations with law enforcement.
In the early 70's Mr. Davis left the Troupe when it re-formed as a Collective, the members of which operate as the Artistic Director. At this time, the group began also produced a number of feminist-based plays, notably The Independent Female (1970). In the 1980's, the group's productions retaliated against the Reagan administration with a number of socialist-angled productions. In Factwino meets The Moral Majority (1981), Factwino, an alcoholic superhero that became a recurring protagonist, bestowed wisdom upon prominent icons, such as Jerry Falwell. Steel Town (1984) characterized the plight of steel workers and the need for union solidarity. For this production, the troupe toured the Midwest, primarily in factory cities. In l987, the troupe's style of guerrilla, Brechtian theater earned them a special Tony Award for Excellence in Regional Theater.
As well as the park-based shows, the Mime Troupe also tours nationally and internationally, having performed throughout Europe, Asia, South and Central America, and has won several awards, including the 1987 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The group also facilitates community workshops. They are a nonprofit making organization. The season traditionally starts on Fourth of July Weekend and ends on Labor Day Weekend.
Early Mime Troupers include Saul Landau (author with R.G.Davis of "Civil Rights in a Cracker Barrel: A Minstrel Show"), Steve Reich, Robert Nelson, William T. Wiley, Sandra Archer, Robert Hudson, Walley Hedrick, Judy North.
Later veterans include Peter Coyote, Luis Valdez, Barry Shabaka Henley, Bruce Barthol, and Bill Graham.
CLICK TO HEAR A MEDLEY OF SONGS FROM MIME TROUPE SHOWS.
[edit] Productions
2006 Godfellas
2005 Doing Good
2004 Showdown at Crawford Gulch
2003 Veronique of the Mounties
2002 Mr. Smith Goes to Obscuristan
2001 1600 Transylvania Avenue
2000 Eating it
1999 The First Forty Years
1999 City For Sale
1999 Damaged Care
1997 La Hembra Independencia The Independent Female
1997 Killing Time Revenger Rat Meets the Merchant of Death
1997 13 Days / Trece Dias Teen City
1996 Soul Suckers from Outer Space Gotta Get A Life
1995 Escape to Cyberia
1995 Coast City Confidential
1994 Offshore / Big Wind
1993 I Ain't Yo Uncle / Offshore
1992 Social Work/ I Ain't Yo Uncle
1991 Back to Normal / I Ain't Yo Uncle
1990 Rats Uncle Tom's Cabin
1989 Seeing Double Secrets in the Sand
1988 Ripped Van Winkle
1987 The Dragon Lady's Revenge
1986 The Mozamgola Caper
1986 Hotel Universe Spain/36
1985 Crossing Borders Fact Wino / The Opera
1984/1985 Steeltown
1983 The Uprising At Fuente Ovejuna Secrets in the Sand
1982 Fact Wino vs. Armagoddonman
1981 Factwino Meets the Moral Majority Americans or Last Tango in Huahuatenango Ghosts
1980 Fact Person
1979 We Can't Pay, We Won't Pay Squash T.V. Dinner
1978 Elektrobucks
1977 Hotel Universe
1976 False Promises Nos Enganaron
1975 Power Play Frijoles or Beans To You
1974 The Great Air Robbery
1973 The Mother San Francisco Scandals of 1973
1972 American Dreamer The Dragon Lady's Revenge High Rises Frozen Wages
1971 Clown Show The Dragon Lady's Revenge
1970 Seize the Time The Independent Female Ecoman Telephone Man or Ripping off Ma Bell Los Siete
1969 The Congress of Whitewashers or Turandot The Third Estate
1968 Little Black Panther Ruzzante or the Veteran Gorilla Marching Band is Formed Gutter Puppets (Meter Maid)
1967 L'Amant Militaire The Minstrel Show or Civil Rights in a Cracker Barrel The Condemned The Vaudeville Show
1966 The Miser What's That Ahead? Jack Off! Film: Mirage And Centerman Olive Pits Search & Seizure
1965 Chronicles of Hell Civil Rights Tartuffe The Exception and the Rule Candelaio
1964 Chorizos Mimes and Movie Event III
1963 Ruzante's Maneuvers Ubu King Film: Plastic Haircut Event II The Root
1962 The Dowry
1961 Event I Act without Words Purgatory and Krapp's Last Tape 1960 11th Hour Mime Show
1959 Mime And Word
[edit] Books
- Mason, Susan Vaneta. (2005) The San Francisco Mime Troupe Reader University of Michigan Press.
- Davis, R.G. (1959). Mime And Word
- Davis, R.G. The San Francisco Mime Troupe: The First Ten Years
- Orenstein, Claudia . Festive Revolutions: The Politics of Popular Theater and the San Francisco Mime Troupe (Jackson, Miss)
