The mission of the San Francisco Mime Troupe is to create and produce theater that presents a working-class analysis of the events that shape our society, that exposes social and economic injustice, that demands revolutionary change on behalf of working people, and to present this analysis before the broadest possible audience with artistry and humor.
The collective of the San Francisco Mime Troupe exists not only to create this activist art but also to embody our ideals of combating the fragmentation of the working class: we are a democratically run, multi-ethnic, multi-generational, multi-cultural, gender-balanced theater of social justice that by its very existence sustains a vision of community governance of, by, and for the people.
We use the term mime in its classical and original definition, “The exaggeration of daily life in story and song.” It is a form of popular theater that is as old as the marketplace itself. From the ancient Greek and Roman farces to the Renaissance commedia dell’arte to modern Chinese Opera, using archetypes comically to illustrate people’s issues is a time honored worldwide tradition. Our broadly drawn characters are instantly recognizable allowing the audience to immediately engage in the action. Our work is political satire and anything but silent.
Having said that, it should be noted that after studying with French mime master Etienne Decroux, R.G. Davis founded the Troupe in 1959 creating pieces, some silent, some with words, that were considered avant-garde. Today it would be called performance art. So, in fact, the first year of our long history we did perform pantomime, but our politics were too outspoken for that to last.