The Tony and Obie award winning San Francisco mime troupe is creates and presents theatre that champions workers rights. They have been joyfully uplifting the fight against oppression with boisterous, summer performances in city parks since 1959.
Although they’re famous for their outdoor performances, the mime troupe is presenting a staged indoor performance of A Red Carol, a play that writer and director Michael Gene Sullivan, describes as an activists adaptation of A Christmas Carol, the Dickens classic.
He explains that A Red Carol is closer to what Dickens intended that what you’ll see at most theaters. He says it’s joyful, but doesn’t shy away from harsh truths and is the revolutionary call-to-action Dickens intended.
A Red Carol is a passion project that the Troupe has been developing for over 15 years. The first reading of the play was staged at Occupy Oakland in 2010.
The ensemble of actors and musicians is a mix of veteran collective member who’ve been with the troupe for over 35 years and newer collaborators. Six actors playing multiple roles and tell the story, and the musicians double as sound effects engineers and lend their voices in song.
This rare indoor mime Troupe performance is in cooperation with Z space a multifaceted performance space in San Francisco’s mission district. Performances are at the Z Space’s Steindler stage and run through December 29.