The San Francisco Mime Troupe Announces 54th Summer Season

The Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe (SFMT) opens its 54th season with OIL & WATER - Two New One Act Musical Productions. After a successful grassroots fundraising effort, SFMT fans rallied to underwrite the SFMT's 54th season. This summer SFMT is doing something different. Within a larger musical/comedic frame, OIL & WATER is actually two shorter plays - CRUDE INTENTIONS and DEAL WITH THE DEVIL - each stylistically unique but topically linked and musically interwoven. True to the SFMT's theatrical grassroots of exaggerated genre and oversized characters, the plays challenge the dangerous energy practices of both corporations and the rest of us. In addition SFMT is committed to creating a smaller carbon footprint with this 2013 production.

The shows for Summer 2013 are: CRUDE INTENTIONS and DEAL WITH THE DEVIL - both written by Pat Moran and Adolfo Mejia.Music & lyrics for both shows are by Pat Moran. The show is directed by SFMT alumnus Joan Mankin, with Lisa Hori-Garcia as assistant director. Both one act original musicals feature two Mime Troupe stalwarts Velina Brown and Lisa Hori-Garcia. They are joined by returning Rotimi Agbabiaka and first-time trouper Hugo E Carbajal. The Mime Troupe Band is represented by Pat Moranand Aharon Wheels Bolsta. Tech credits for OIL & WATER include: Scenic Designer & Painter Jenn Scheller; Costume DesignerKeiko Shimosato Carreiro; Props Designer Daniel Yelen and Poster Designer Lawton Lovely.

OIL & WATER plays July 4 thru Sept. 2, 2013 (press opening: Thurs. July 4 at Dolores Park in San Francisco) throughout the Bay Area in San Francisco, the North Bay, East Bay, Peninsula. All park shows are free and open to the public. Additional, ticketed indoor shows will be in Alameda, Point Arena and Redway. For a complete schedule and more information, the public may call 415-285-1717or visit http://www.sfmt.org. Additional info on SFMT and community organizations is made available at information tables at each of our park shows.

Climate Change, pollution, water scarcity and fossil fuel dependence and issues too big to be dealt with in just one story, so this year's Mime Troupe production presents two one act musicals linked by environmental themes depicting the abusive relationships society has with our natural resources and the lengths we go to satisfy our thirsts (done in their characteristic quick-change, singing & dancing,Commedia dell'Arte political style). A poisoned rainforest river, a senator mysteriously murdered in his office, a sinister criminal conspiracy, and an oil refinery ablaze in the Bay Area - with the survival of the human race in question, the stakes could not be any higher.

The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes for 2013:

2013 has been a nail biter for the Mime Troupe as its summer season was almost cancelled for the first time in half a century! The recession has taken its toll on the public and foundation funding the company relies on, as well as revenue from passing the hat after each free show. Meanwhile, performing for free keeps getting more expensive with the rise in costs of everything including park permits, gasoline and vehicle maintenance, portable toilet rentals and material for set construction.

The 2013 Mime Troupe season will be abbreviated when the funding shortfall threatened the 2013 season with performances in fewer parks than what is customary. Realizing that they did not have the funding to offer a 2013 season, an emergency fundraising drive (The Cost of Free) was organized with over $43,000 raised in a very short time. At this late date (5/20/13) funds are still being collected and an extended season may be forthcoming. Stay tuned for updates and possible added performance dates and locations. Donations can be made at: http://www.sfmt.org/donate/appeal.php

Inspired by the ongoing legal battle between Chevron and the people of Ecuador, CRUDE INTENTIONS blends real world facts with lively satire and challenges us all with a direct call to action. Who has time to think about saving the planet when you can't even pay your bills? Tomasa and Gracie are a San Franciscan couple with a struggling restaurant and a micro-apartment they share with Gracie's brother Larry. Several years ago Tomasa was an activist filmmaker fighting to hold a Bay Area oil company accountable for catastrophic damage inflicted upon the Ecuadorian rainforest. Tomasa learned the hard way that rules don't apply to the world's biggest criminals and she has since sworn off any hope of making an impact. This all changes when a series of encounters with that very same oil company causes Tomasa's past to come screaming back with a vengeance and she's presented with an opportunity to take matters into her own hands.

DEAL WITH THE DEVIL is a fast paced comic who-done-it that asks the questions: "How bad do things have to get?" and "How far would you go to stop them?" In the not too distant future America has fallen upon some mighty hard times. Decades of kicking the "environmental can" down the road have resulted in a devastated landscape and a nation still unable to break free from fossil fuel servitude. On the 4th of July, just hours before she is scheduled to make a startling announcement, The President of the United States is found face down dead in her office. A top secret law enforcement agency suspects foul play and will stop at nothing to keep the situation under wraps and out of the headlines. As the new president assumes control he quickly finds himself caught up in more than he bargained for.

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