SF Mime Troupe Celebrates 50th Anniversary With Exhibitions & Events Around the Bay Area

The San Francisco Mime Troupe continues its 50th Anniversary celebration with a series of fall exhibitions and events in San Francisco and around the Bay Area commemorating the seminal Troupe's milestone. In addition to the company's 50th Anniversary production TOO BIG TO FAIL, a song and dance satire of monumental proportions currently touring throughout Northern California until September 27, the San Francisco Main Library will host a retrospective entitled "Free in(g) the Parks - The San Francisco Mime Troupe vs. The Censors, 1963 to 1969" in October and a panel discussion, "Radical Theater Revisited," in November. The Mill Valley Film Festival will hold a special screening of Glenn Silber and Claudia Vianello's film "Troupers" in October, with a special live performance and Q&A panel following the screening at 142 Throckmorton Theatre. Additional fall and winter 50th Anniversary events will be announced in the coming weeks.

Free in(g) the Parks

The San Francisco Mime Troupe vs. The Censors, 1963 to 1969

October 24, 2009 - February 1, 2010

San Francisco Main Public Library

Steve Silver Beach Blanket Babylon Music Room, 4th floor
Free and open to the public

The San Francisco Mime Troupe's early years, defined by their many public fights for the right to free speech, are chronicled in photographs, articles, posters, props, scrapbooks and other artifacts in this retrospective exhibit.

While generations of Bay Area residents have grown up with the Mime Troupe's annual free public performances, few realize that the right for the group to stage their political comedies in the community - and in some cases, perform at all - was a hard-won victory. Early park performances of adapted Italian commedias, such as the Troupe's production of "The Dowry" in 1962, were perceived as "obscene" by the city's establishment, and permits for the group to perform in public were refused. The Troupe persevered, despite highly publicized arrests, citing their First Amendment rights. The subsequent court case, argued by Marvin Stender, ultimately established the right of artists to perform uncensored in the city's parks; the Mime Troupe has opened a new show in the parks every summer since.

For more information visit www.sfmt.org or http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/news/exhibitions.htm

Radical Theater Revisited

Sunday November 1st, 2-4pm

San Francisco Main Library

Koret Auditorium

Free and open to the public

In 1968, the Esalen Institute sponsored a 5-day "Festival of Radical Theatre" at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University). Highlights of the Festival, the first of its kind held in the United States, included panel presentations and workshops led by the three of the most prominent guerilla theater groups of the time. "Radical Theatre Revisted" reunites the founders of these three groups - RG Davis of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Peter Schumann of Bread and Puppet, and Luis Valdez of El Teatro Campesino - to continue the conversation about the role of radical theater in today's society, and re-visit the goals and ideas that grew out of the original Festival.

For more information visit www.sfmt.org or http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/news/exhibitions.htm

Troupers

Screening date and time TBD
Part of the Mill Valley Film Festival

October 8-18, 2009

Originally released in 1985, Glenn Silber and Claudia Vianello's "Troupers" documents the tribulations and successes of the San Francisco Mime Troupe on the road during what was then the group's silver anniversary. The first 25 years of the ensemble is captured in extensive archival footage, live performances, and interviews with such early Troupe members as Peter Coyote and Bill Graham, who both went on to dynamic careers in theater and film (Coyote) and music promotion (Graham). The documentary also chronicles the company's struggles to tour its 1984 production, "Steel Town," throughout the Midwest, despite money troubles and the stress of being on the road. "Troupers" captures the colorful early history of the Tony and Obie award-winning Mime Troupe, as well as the day-to-day life of "America's finest theatre of political comedy," as it works to bring its trademark brand of musical satire to people from all walks of life.

This screening of "Troupers" will be followed by a panel featuring a Q&A and musical performances by San Francisco Mime Troupe members included in the film, such as Joan Holden, Wilma Bonet, and Bruce Barthol, at 142 Throckmorton Theatre, Mill Valley.

For more information visit www.sfmt.org or www.cafilm.org/mvff

Founded in 1959, the San Francisco Mime Troupe creates and produces socially relevant theater; their work is political satire and anything but silent. Winner of three OBIE awards and a Tony Award for Excellence in Regional Theatre, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, about which The New York Times stated, "Anyone concerned about the state of global politics -- and about the state of political humor -- should listen to the Mime Troupe's message," creates plays that make sense out of the headlines, close-up stories that make audiences feel the impact of political events on their personal lives. The New York Post called the Mime Troupe "America's oldest and finest street theater," with the The Boston Globe concurring, "You're never only watching a political theater piece, but rather a double barreled re-invention of politics and theater at once." To make this work accessible to the broadest audience possible, the Mime Troupe performs as a regional touring company, presenting their work at a price everyone can afford: free.

For more information about the San Francisco Mime Troupe, TOO BIG TO FAIL, and the 50th Anniversary events, the public may call 415.285.1717 or visit www.sfmt.org