Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- San Francisco Mime Troupe
- Language:
- English.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The San Francisco Mime Troupe Archives consist of unique items relating to the forty year existence of the Troupe. The collection contains original and adapted scripts, financial papers, photographs, audio visual items, promotional material, correspondence, clippings, and office files. The bulk of the material is from the 1970s but there is a substantial portion from the first ten years of the Troupe as well as the years up until 2000.
Other collections held in the Department of Special Collections that contain items relating to the San Francisco Mime Troupe Archives are:
D-065: R.G. Davis Papers
D-055: Toby Cole Archives
D-121: Peter Coyote. Papers.
D-145: U.M.T.R. Archives - Biographical / historical:
-
The San Francisco Mime Troupe is San Francisco's critically acclaimed and oldest professional political musical theater. It began in 1959 when Ronald G. Davis formed the R.G. Davis Mime Troupe while affiliated with the San Francisco Actor's Workshop. Initially, the Troupe improvised silent mime performance "events," but soon added sound, music, and dialogue. In 1962 they began producing free shows in San Francisco parks and moved from mime into other forms of drama: first adaptations of commedia dell'arte, then vaudeville, melodrama, and other American theater. In 1963, they severed connections with the Workshop, and changed the group's name to the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
In the Sixties, under Davis's direction, the Troupe affiliated itself with the new counterculture. They published ideas on Guerrilla Theater and Radical Theater and continued to play in theaters, in the parks, and on colleges campuses, appealing particularly to the Left. After some fairly unsettled early years which included revocations of park permits, arrests, and litigation, the San Francisco Mime Troupe was recognized with an Obie Award in 1967 for "unifying theater and revolution and grooving in the parks."
In 1970 Davis left the company which then reorganized as a worker-managed collective. More awards followed: Obie Awards in 1971 for The Dragon Lady's Revenge and in 1989 for Seeing Double as well as a Tony Award in 1987 for excellence in regional theater. The Troupe has, for the most part, moved from adaptations to original works written by members of the Troupe (most particularly Joan Holden) and continues to use performances to point out weaknesses in American society.
After forty years of existence the San Francisco Mime Troupe continues to uphold socialist ideals. They perform in the parks every summer, tour in the fall, and share their message through annual youth theater projects. Their mission continues to be "to create and produce socially relevant theater of the highest professional quality and to perform it before the broadest possible audience."
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Special Collections Department.
- Physical description:
- 77.4 linear feet contained in 73 archive boxes, 16 folio boxes, 1 document case, and map case drawers.
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library100 NW QuadDavis, CA 95616-5292, US
- Contact:
- (530) 752-1621