no, not that kind of mime

If you never studied theater history, particularly the brief history of theater in the U.S., you might think that the San Francisco Mime Troupe consists of a bunch of guys in skin-tight rainbow-colored bodysuits acting their way out of invisible boxes. But as they declare on the side of their truck, "no, not that kind of mime." The legacies that were born and grew out of the physical stylized form of commedia dell'arte from the Italian Renaissance include many different schools and genres of performance, but they usually have some roots in physical story-telling and the grotesque/satire. The SF troupe, founded in 1959, is one of the oldest companies in the U.S. today, and their work has come to be considered a staple in the landscape of popular (as in, of the people, political) theater tradition here.

My best friend from high school, Lisa, has been with the company for a few years now, so this year, on a birthday trip out west, I caught their latest show MAKING A KILLING. After spending the morning at the beautiful new-ish Asian Art Museum and grabbing tacos at La Taqueria (that boasted "the best tacos in the world" -- a very bold statement I would say) we headed to Dolores Park and joined some friends on a nice patch of blanket. Tmonkey pretty much immediately succumbed to a food coma, but his shins made for a nice back rest.

I should say here that I am not a huge fan of this kind of theater. "This kind" meaning those with an overt and unabashed political agenda. And also those that fall into a certain kind of tongue-in-cheek musical-theater genre. But this show was probably the most watchable ones by the troupe in recent years. This year's show was set against the backdrop of the Iraq war. The main players are Dick Cheney, played with a lot of despicable fun by Ed Holmes, a jaded army news reporter and his younger, idealistic photographer sidekick (and lover), and Condi Rice. The topics covered: integrity (or lack thereof) in reporting on the Iraq War, the unleashed greed of politicians, and lesser known facts of how "dirty" bombs during Desert Storm have left a generation of innocent people with cancer. Add that to the litany of how f*ed up this country's government is.

Well they were preaching to the converted, as I suspect most of their shows do, touring up and down California all summer. The crowd is appreciative of the politics and the goofy humor. I particularly liked the repetition of Dick Cheney keeling over dead, to be resuscitated by a remote control pocketed by Condi. Oh and the big gay kiss finale was cute. But a deeper impact could surely be had were they to tour to more politically conservative parts of the country. I'd love to see what would happen if they drove up to a stadium in Texas and set up their stage.