SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE
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The San Francisco Mime Troupe is an extraordinary resource that has brought the magic of theater and critical thinking to a broad spectrum of people...young and old, people of various ethnicities, economically disadvantaged and advantaged.
The Mime Troupe has enriched my family's life. I hope it will continue to enrich tens of thousands more.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
My daughter, who is now 22, grew up seeing the Mime Troupe each summer. She learned the power of storytelling and ended up as a playwriting student at UCLA. Now she has graduated and is working for a major arts organization; the imprint of those Mime Troupe summers is still resonating in her work.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Ensure it had enough money to thrive.
I first encountered the Mime Troupe way back in 1979 as part of a grad school research project on guerrilla theatres of the 1960's. My professor only had one question for me: "Are they still active?" I couldn't answer him, didn't know. Fast forward to 1993 and a faculty appointment at a CSU in northern California...and who should be coming to town but the San Francisco Mime Troupe!! The what...?? No way.
Now it's 2011 and I make it a point to see the Mime Troupe's annual summer show every year I can possibly get in range of them. I've done week long workshops with them and taken my classes to their shows and to participate in their lecture/demonstrations whenever they come to town. I often use what I've learned from them artistically and socially (and steal their best bits) in my own work.
I am dead serious when I say that the San Francisco Mime Troupe is a national treasure. There is no one else like them. They are a nagging, sharp elbowed, quick witted moral conscience for a nation that is losing its own. And they need a bigger megaphone!
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
see above.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
...have them change any plans they have to change their spots.
This theater troupe is amazing! I have been going to the free shows they give in the local parks for over 20 years, and each time I have laughed heartily and learned things I didn't know about current political events or issues. With just a few actors, they manage to put on a first class show every time, with live music and singing. I love the way they provide the artistic experience free to all who come, and then ask for donations at the end, reminding people how much they paid for the last movie they saw, and asking them to match that, at least. I'm sure lots of people pay nothing or only a couple of bucks, but after I'd invited friends to the show multiple years in a row, I decided to be a more generous patron. I don't know how they manage to put on these great, original shows year after year, but I sure hope they keep on doing it.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
This organization provides a first class theatre experience for free in the local parks throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. I have been to many of their shows, sometimes returning for a second time in the same season, because I enjoyed the show so much. The plays entertain but also raise awareness of important issues facing the country. They combine the best of bringing people together in a community and bringing different points of views on important topics out in the open, where change can happen.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Sometimes the script includes swear words, which bothers me because there are always children in the audience. I would rather they stick to words that are child-friendly.
San Francisco Mime Troupe: not mimes. Definitely a theater troupe. And spreading the best of San Francisco arts and politics to the rest of the state and the country. I've been coming to their shows for 30 years and love their form of musical comedy / commedia dell'arte / political parable. They're brave enough to take on topics that most other popular entertainment ignores, and creative enough to make it enjoyable and inspiring. I count on the SFMT to point out when the emperor has no clothes, to show the systemic causes of contemporary problems, and to inspire the audience with examples of how we can, together, make things right.
How many other arts groups can do this AND give so many free shows in public parks? SFMT deserves our support. They are a San Francisco treasure that the world should embrace.
(From someone who, as a young punk in the early 1980s, stumbled upon the SFMT's classic "Factwino" performance in a public park and has been following them ever since. My hair is graying but SFMT is as fresh as ever.)
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
Nobody tells it as honestly and creatively as the SFMT, which is why I've brought friends, family, and new generations of audience members to their performances through the years.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Give them a MacArther grant. Give them a big bundle of money, so they're not always on edge about funding.
They are the LOUDEST mimes in the world and entertain while teaching. How can you not love that? The fact that they have existed as struggling artists for more than 50 years without compromising their ideals in this world of political upheaval speaks (once again-VERY LOUDLY) to true committment.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
performances for more than 30 years.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
maybe somehow make it better known that they are not the whiteface marcel marceau mimes.
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