By Barry Willis
Perhaps San Francisco’s oldest theater company is still rocking the free world. Directed by Velina Brown, Michael Gene Sullivan’s raucous satire American Dreams plays assorted outdoor venues throughout the Bay Area, closing the summer season on September 8 at the London Nelson Community Center in Santa Cruz.
Founded in 1959, the itinerant Mime Troupe has been a Bay Area favorite for decades, spoofing cultural and political trends while adhering to the Commedia del Arte tradition of performing outdoors for donations.
” … Don’t miss it! …”
The troupe’s recent show at the Mill Valley Community Center—against a backdrop of dozens of middle-school athletes at football practice—was proof of both its loyal following and its commitment to poking fun at all that should be poked—in this case, a mixture of election-time politics, personal identity issues, student protests, vegan cuisine, artificial intelligence, and “Silicon Valley billionaire communists.”
There are plenty of other worthy targets in Sullivan’s fast-paced, madcap assessment of where we are in mid-2024, performed on a portable stage by four superb actors playing almost a dozen characters.
Sullivan is tremendous as a self-doubting MAGA cap-wearing Trumper named Gabriel Pearse, while Mikki Johnson embodies the role of his patient granddaughter Paine, a university instructor at risk of losing her job, who moonlights as a driver for an ominous service called Uber-Alles. Lizzie Calogero is amazing as Emma, a well-intentioned but basically clueless student protestor. In a heartbeat she transforms into a cop, a TV reporter, and an overbearing British tech executive named Maliae Higgins, who delivers haughty recommendations to make the world a better place through an all-encompassing app called Taalos, voiced by Sullivan.
The frenetic Andre Amarotico rounds out the cast as Gabriel’s goofy friend and fellow Trumper Harold, as a vegan chef named Oliver, and as a club-wielding cop. His antics on the compact but versatile stage by Carlos-Antonio Aceves are laugh-out-loud funny, matching those of his cast-mates and fully honoring Sullivan’s wide-ranging script. Brooke Jennings’ quick-change costumes go a long way toward propelling the wild plot, and Daniel Savio leads a great three-piece band.
The SF Mime Troupe absolutely puts the “fun” in “funky.” American Dreams plays in San Francisco and San Jose before closing in Santa Cruz. Don’t miss it!
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Aisle Seat Review NorCal Executive Editor Barry Willis is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and president of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Contact: barry.m.willis@gmail.com
| Production | American Dreams |
|---|---|
| Written by | Michael Gene Sullivan |
| Directed by | Velina Brown |
| Producing Company | SF Mime Troupe |
| Production Dates | Through Sept 8th |
| Production Address | Various locations in SF Bay Area and Santa Cruz |
| Website | sfmt.org |
| Telephone | 415-285-1717 |
| Tickets | Free; donations appreciated |
| Reviewer Score | Max in each category is 5/5 |
| Overall | 4/5 |
| Performance | 4/5 |
| Script | 4/5 |
| Stagecraft | 3.5/5 |
| Aisle Seat Review Pick? | Yes! |