Review: COST OF FREE- A CONVERSATION WITH SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE'S MICHAEL GENE SULLIVAN

The San Francisco Mime Troupe, founded in 1959, started with movement "Events" with visual art elements and music, segued to commedia dell’arte, and now presents fully fledged outdoor political musical theatre with a decidedly “left” bent. The Troupe clinched its radical reputation in 1967 when L’AMANT MILITAIRE, a commedia by Goldoni updated to satirize the Vietnam war, with Davis and Peter Cohon (later Peter Coyote) in leading roles, toured campuses across the Midwest neck-in-neck with recruiters for the Dow Chemical Company, makers of napalm.

Winner of three Obie Awards (1967, 1974, 1990), the SFMT exposed CIA complicity in the Indochina heroin trade, opposed the Vietnam War, supported the feminist movement, and lampooned the triumph of capital under Reagan. They’ve performed in revolutionary Cuba, and in l986, the first US theatre troupe to play in Sandinista Nicaragua. SFMT is the only touring ensemble to win a Tony Award for Excellence in Regional Theatre (l987).

Like most small companies, the Troupe has always struggled financially. Unsubsidized until the late l970's, the Troupe enjoyed a few stable years in the l980's with grants from the city, the state of California, and the National Endowment for the Arts. In the 1990's, the rightwing attack on the NEA cost the SFMT most of its federal support and decimated the national touring network, its other main source of income. 

An accomplished veteran of Bay Area theater, nationally produced playwright, and Guggenheim Fellowship award winner, Michael Gene Sullivan is a Collective Member and Resident Director of the Tony and OBIE award-winning, always revolutionary, and never, ever silent San Francisco Mime Troupe, where he has written, acted in, and/or directed over thirty plays. I spoke with Michael about the current situation and his outlook on the future of SFMT.

Can you comment on the wave of closed theatre companies in the Bay Area (Cal Shakes, Northside Theatre, Cutting Ball, PianoFight, CustomMade, Exit Theatre and Bay Area Musicals) and its impact on the art scene?

MGS: Well, when it comes to audiences a lot of companies never recovered from the drop-off during the Covid pandemic. Also, the competition for donors and funding dollars is fierce. Even though theaters absolutely should not be in competition with each other for funding, unfortunately we are. A lot of us are struggling financially, and this has led to theatres with differing perspectives cutting back or dying - which means our communities lose those unique visions. Theatre is the modern town square, creating and speaking to different communities. without a corporate filter, and SFMT in unique in offering a working man’s view on diverse issues affecting us all.

SM: It seems the current administration has its own mission to kill the arts. What do you see as the relationship between social art such as SFMT and its role in presenting alternative thinking?

MGS: the Troupe isn’t pro-any particular political party or candidate. We are all about justice, civil rights, worker’s rights, anti-imperialism, anti-autocracy, and most importantly using theatre to present an analysis of how we got where we are, and workable solutions that benefit us all.

SM: Michael, you’ve been prophetic twice recently in your writing.

MGS: Yes, unfortunately I did make two correct calls, once in 2016’s “Schooled”, about an election for a school board where I had the candidate representing Trump win the election. Some of the reviews mentioned how ridiculous that was. Then I had Trump not accepting the election results prior to the 2020 election in the pandemic radio series Tales of the Resistance in an episode titled “The End of The Beginning”.

SM: As federal and state funding dries up what other options do companies like SFMT have?

MGS: What all theaters are experiencing nationally is a narrowing down of options, shutting off inclusiveness and dividing communities through fear and intimidation. There’s a ‘patriotism’ litmus test, not dissimilar to the McCarthyism of the 1950’s. It does make it difficult to source funding. SFMT did receive funding from the SF Arts Commission this year, and have some grants in the process, but we are committed to being a theatre of the people, will not accept corporate funding because that can lead to actual or self-censorship when it comes to critiquing corporatism and capitalism.

SM: Explain how corporate funding can affect your choices of material.

MGS: Accepting that funding can have subtle and not so subtle influences on a company’s decisions. I was in a play at another well-known theatre years ago, and there was an important scene with some greedy bankers in a non-flattering light, and mid-rehearsal we received feedback from the concerned Artistic Director that the bankers on the board might not appreciate the slight. The theme of the show was ‘greed’, so how do you temper that based on your funding sources? Oh, and we didn’t change the scene.

SM: I don’t think people understand that free theatre in the parks is not really free. Sure, you pass the hat, but that’s only a fraction of the true cost of your season. What’s the near future look like for SFMT?

MGS: We’re fundraising now to secure the summer season, we need a new touring truck - last year ours broke down, and touring the country is a big part of our funding and creating community, and then there’s  our production of “A Red Carol” which received rave reviews (/san-francisco/article/BWW-Review-RED-CAROL-SCROOGE-at-SF-Mime-Troupe-20201212), and which we hope to produce annually as our ‘alternate’ Christmas offering. 

Michael Gene Sullivan speaks with decades of experience in presenting the vision and voice of the ‘everyman’. San Francisco Mime Troupe is an essential need for this moment in our history. They will certainly not back down in their opposition to racism, homophobia, anti-trans, anti-immigrant, and the consolidation of power and wealth to the few. Now, more than ever, their strength and commitment will help empower the 99%, and this reporter hopes they find funding angels to continue the cause.