S. F. Mime Troupe: Risk and Frontal Assault
By Peter Berg
August, 1966
The San Francisco Mime Troupe is involved in building a new popular social
theatre. Not a re-hash of "realism" and "problem" plays, but
original forms, expressive style, and new performance situations that reflect
the social forces in the U.S. today. It is a group of performers (actors, mimes,
dancers) dedicated to actional theatre and confrontation. The Troupe has
played the public parks of San Francisco with free commedia dell'arte shows that
blend 15th century costumes with contemporary issues, given new plays from
outdoor speaker's platform and flat-bed trucks, and created A Minstrel Show
to put-on Jim Crow and get beneath the skin of the civil rights issue. R. G.
Davis, the director and founder of the group, refers to the process as
"taking risks" to engage the audience in vital themes and questions.
Proof of the volatility of these questions has been amply provided by
various social "authorities" who have also been engaged in the
process. By treating controversial material in "non-permissible" ways,
the Troupe has become an issue in itself:
Commedia shows were refused a park permit because of alleged obscenity in
the material. Davis was arrested and convicted for performing without the
permit in a test of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Commission's right
to censor the content of plays. ACLU appealed the case and the Troupe won on
constitutional grounds. It now plays the parks five days a week. A commission
representative revealed the intent of the permit refusal by later stating
that, "This group has a monumental reputation for productions ridiculing
the police, our city, our government, religion, and this commission."
Originally the charge was that "an actor - simulated relieving his
bladder."
A Minstrel Show was blacked-out in mid-performance by officials of
Olympia College in Washington because of "unsuitability" of its
material. The student body audience was loudly divided about the
administration's heavy-handed censorship, and the Minstrel cast called from
the stage for a vote. Officials refused, then compounded their Dark Ages
policy by clearing the theatre of students and performers.
The Burns Committee, California's own Un-American Activities hysteria
center, dedicated a chapter of its recent annual report to the Mime Troupe in
an attempt to brand the Troupe for appearing in behalf of the Free Speech
Movement.
Of course the Troupe's frontal tactics have resulted in some displacement of
energy in legal and financial hassles resulting from these encounters, but they
have also attracted an audience and following which is looking for more than
"commentary".
The fall the Troupe will produce an adaptation of Sartre's Condemned
of Altona and present it in boxing-rings and gymnasiums as an
experiment in audience participation; create material for a
cabaret-theatre circuit made up of clubs and bars not usually considered
as theatrical environments; and tour Midwestern and Eastern colleges with A
Minstrel Show.
Peter Berg
S.F. MIME TROUPE, INC.
[Located in the San Francisco Mime Troupe
Archives at the University of California at Davis, Shields Library, Special
Collections, Accession Number: D-61. Box 81, Folder 1.]
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