You don't need a PhD to know that this equation, preposterous a year ago, is a frightening reality today. History students learn that strong-arm fascism and its despotic leaders have occurred with ugly regularity throughout time. Unfortunately, without that knowledge, we are doomed to live the "yes" answer to that classic essay question, "Does history repeat itself?" Today, with a system that pushes the bottom line rather than critical thinking, our educators are struggling to teach the lessons that will empower our citizens and revitalize our democracy.

Right now the hottest ticket on Broadway is a history lesson. And at the Troupe we are more committed than ever to use our stage as a classroom and our classrooms as stages, showing and telling the stories of these challenging times, while helping others to create and perform real stories of their own.

This summer in Schooled, the Troupe tackles the crisis in education itself. We examine the dangers to a public liberal education, the larger forces behind them, and their threat to our participatory democracy. Playing multiple characters, Rotimi Agbabiaka, Velina Brown, Lisa Hori-Garcia and Keiko Shimosato Carreiro, represent various players in this tug of war with the minds of our children (and future voters) at the heart of it. Written by Michael Gene Sullivan and Eugenie Chan with songs by Ira Marlowe, Schooled reflects our passion for this subject as teachers, parents, and citizen artists - a passion that will be shared in post-show discussions with our audiences and community leaders.

For decades, our collaborative playmaking workshops have brought folks together by identifying their common topical ground and creating plays that illustrate those problems and offer hopeful solutions. We continue to expand this model in a Johnny Appleseed effort to encourage more groups to create their own plays, perform them, and affect social change in their own communities.

 

Yet, despite special workshop grants, institutional funding for actual performances continues to shrink. For nearly six decades (and through multiple elections) our free summer park season has remained our touchstone. During this election summer you will be asked to give money to a variety of campaigns and candidates. Please also consider a generous tax-deductible donation to the San Francisco Mime Troupe in support of our efforts on and offstage. This summer, our goal is to school our fellow citizens on how not to get "schooled" and ultimately "Trumped." It's gonna take more than a village this time around. Join us in the parks and in the booths.

In Patriotic Solidarity,  

 

The San Francisco Mime Troupe