Tony Award-Winning San Francisco Mime Troupe Opens 57th Season with SCHOOLED Tonight

Education. It's like the weather: everyone has an opinion but nobody does anything about it. That's how Lavinia Jones feels about her son Thomas' new school, Eleanor Roosevelt High. Decades of funding cuts have resulted in old textbooks, crumbling classrooms, and underpaid teachers, making Roosevelt exactly the sort of public school that has failed students time and time again. Isn't it time for something... efficient? And efficient is exactly what Fredersen Babbit, from Learning Academy for Virtual Achievement (LAVA Corp.), promises to bring to the district. New Technology, remote learning, computer-generated teachers -LAVA promises to put the "virtual" in achievement! But with kids learning from home, do we need all these empty schools? And with privatization on the line, a Wall Street heavy hitter on one side and a feisty octogenarian teacher Ethel Orocuru on the other, suddenly the next School Board election is more about a hidden agenda than the open curriculum. Are schools the last chance for democracy, or is education the next frontier for profit? Can we trust a politician's public/private plan to replace an out-of-date system, or is there something even more sinister than privatization going on behind the doors of LAVA? And wait - when did the hall monitors start wearing brown shirts and arm bands? When it comes to the real plan for the future of education - and of our democracy - are we all about to get... Schooled?

Schooled is written by Michael Gene Sullivan and Eugenie Chan.

Music & lyrics by Ira Marlowe.
Directed by: Michael Gene Sullivan.

Music director: Kurt Huget.

Musicians include: William Durkee, Dominic Moisant, and Daniel Savio.

Schooled features veteran SF Mime Troupe collective members: Velina Brown (Lavinia Jones, Estelle), Rotimi Agbabiaka (Thomas Jones, Arthur Quisdedo), Keiko Shimosato-Carreiro (Ethel Orocuru), Lisa Hori-Garcia (Michiko Chimlis, Fredersen. Babbit).

Tech credits for Schooled include:
Scenic Designer: Jay Lasnik; Costume Designer: Blake More; Props Master: Marie Cartier;
Sound Designers/Operators: Keith Arcuragi and Taylor Gonzalez; Technical Director: Loid M Loid; Prod. Stage Manager & Web Programmer: Karen Runk; Tour Manager: Junelle-Johannah Taguas; Publicity: Lawrence Helman; Photography: DavidAllenStudio.com; Poster Design: Jolene Russell.

Schooled plays July 2 - Sept. 5, 2016

Bay Area Openings: East Bay - Sat. July 2 & Sun. July 3 - Cedar Rose Park, San Francisco
- Mon. July 4 - Dolores Park; and running throughout the Bay Area in SF, the North Bay, East Bay, Peninsula, Sacramento, Davis, Nevada City, and 3 Northern CA shows. All park shows are free and open to the public. Additional ticketed shows: Point Arena - Wed. July 13, Redway - Sat, July 16, and two indoor shows at SFMT Studio Space in SF - Wed. Aug. 3 & Thurs. Aug. 4, 2016.

For a complete schedule and more information, visit www.sfmt.org or call 415-285-1717.
Additional info on SFMT and community organizations is made available at information tables at each of our park shows.

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