San Francisco Mime Troupe

Despite its name, the performers of the San Francisco Mime Troupe are quite vocal. One reviewer explains, "The San Francisco Mime Troupe uses the word 'mime' in the classical sense: not as in 'pantomime' but as in 'mimic,' or 'the exaggeration of daily life through storytelling and song.'" (http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/07.26.00/mimes-0030.html)

The Troupe was founded in 1967 by Dan Chumley, who was inspired by political theatre of the time to drop out of Harvard and get together a group of performers to bring radical, often socialist political issues to the public through humor. Each summer sees them bringing free performances of their current show to parks from Santa Cruz to San Francisco. They have won numerous awards over their decades of work, including a Tony Award for excellence in regional theatre.

Actually, R.G. Davis founded the Mime Troupe in 1959. It was originally called the R.G. Davis Mime Troupe. R.G. studied with Mime Master Etienne Decroux. He began experimenting with different styles of performance eventually choosing Commedia Dell'Arte as the main style for the troupe to present free political theater in the parks. In the 70's the troupe became a collective and Davis left and became known as a Brecht scholar. The 1st play they did without Davis was an American Melo-Drama about feminism. Since then they've drawn stylistically from Movie Genre's, Television Sit-com, Broadway Musical, etc. to create their signature broad comedic style. Their website is www.sfmt.org.