San Francisco Mime Troupe Opens 51st Season With POSIBILIDAD 7/15-9/15

The Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe opens its 51st season with POSIBILIDAD, or Death of the Worker. A small U.S. factory is shutting down. All of the workers are losing their jobs, and to add insult to injury, they have also lost their last two weeks of pay and retirement funds, which were raided over the years to pay stock dividends. They are despondent, but feel there is nothing they can do, so they put in their last shift and raise a glass to their years together. As they leave the Factory for the last time, one of the older Workers gets snagged on a machine. Interpreting this as an act of defiance, The Boss calls security. The Situation escalates and before anyone has a chance to think, the Workers have accidentally occupied the Factory!

During the negotiation process, The Boss tries intimidation, patriotism, and Red Scare tactics, while the Workers just try to figure out what the heck they're doing. Some say wreck the place. Tea Baggers say it's all the government's fault. Others blame the Union. One Worker, an Argentine ex-pat, says they should consider running the Factory themselves and is immediately labeled a Commie. At night, as the occupying Workers entertain themselves with songs and stories, the Argentine comes forward again and tells the tale of a similar strike back home. As more of the Argentine's story unfolds, the parallel plights of the American and Argentine Workers play out side by side. While the Americans struggle to keep their factory occupation from becoming politicized, the Argentine strike is deeply political. In the end, both the American and Argentine Workers are victorious, but which resolution will ultimately keep the power in the Workers' hands?

Wilma Bonet directs Rotimi Agbabiaka, Velina Brown, Lisa Hori-Garcia, Maggie Mason, Brian Rivera, Michael Gene Sullivan in this modern song and tango about politics in the workplace, written by Michael Gene Sullivan, with additional dialogue by Ellen Callas.

The San Francisco Mime Troupe creates and produces socially relevant theater; their work is political satire and anything but silent. The Mime Troupe 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. To make this work accessible to the broadest audience possible, the Mime Troupe performs at a price everyone can afford: free.

SCHEDULE:
Preview performance: Sunday, June 20, San Geronimo Valley Cultural Center
6350 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, San Geronimo, 3:30 music, 4pm show

EAST BAY:
Thursday, July 15, Montclair Ball Field, Montclair, 6:30 music, 7pm show
Saturday, July 17, Cedar Rose Park, Berkeley, 1:30 music, 2pm show
Sunday, July 18, Cedar Rose Park, Berkeley, 1:30 music, 2pm show
Saturday, July 24, Willard Park, Berkeley, 1:30 music, 2pm show
Sunday, July 25, Willard Park, Berkeley, 1:30 music, 2pm show
Wednesday, August 4, Lakeside Park, Oakland, 6:30 music, 7pm show
Thursday, August 5, Lakeside Park, Oakland, 6:30 music, 7pm show
Saturday, August 14, Live Oak Park, Berkeley, 1:30 music, 2pm show
Sunday, August 15, Live Oak Park, Berkeley, 1:30 music, 2pm show
Sunday, August 29, Mosswood Park, Oakland, 1:30 music, 2pm show
Wednesday, September 15, Chabot College Performing Arts Center, Hayward, 6:30 music, 7pm show

ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES:

RICHMOND:
Wednesday, August 25, Civic Center Plaza, 6pm music, 6:30pm show
NEVADA CITY:
Thursday, September 9, Nevada Theatre, 7pm music, 7:30pm show, for tickets visit www.brownpapertickets.com
Friday, September 10, Nevada Theatre, 7pm music, 7:30pm show, for tickets visit www.brownpapertickets.com
DAVIS:
Saturday, September 11, Community Park, 6:30 music, 7pm show
SACRAMENTO:
Sunday, September 12, Southside Park, 4:30 music, 5pm show

All shows are free and open to the public (unless otherwise noted); additional performances will be held in San Francisco, the North Bay, on the Peninsula, and beyond. For more information and a complete performance schedule, the public may call 415.285.1717 or visit www.sfmt.org.

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