You Can Help Turn the Mime Troupe’s Building into a Thriving Space for Artists

The San Francisco Mime Troupe is presenting a fundraiser with an all-day concert festival. All funds raised will go towards improving the SFMT building to help create a space in the community for artists to be able to express themselves. The SFMT is hoping to continue to host concerts, art showcases and any other events that local artists want to host in their space.

The All-day event takes place on Sat. April 27, 2024 (One Day Only) – 2:00pm – 10:00pm (doors at 1:30 pm), at the historic SFMT Building – 855 Treat Ave. (at 21st St.) in SF 94110 – located in the Mission district of San Francisco. The all-day festival will feature artists including: The Live Oaks, Orchestra Gold, Graham Patzner, Graham Norwood, Northern Waste, Daniel Eugene, Ben Einstein, Bow & Arrow Circus, Will Durkee, Patrick Byers, Johnny Lonely’s Unhappy Hour, Pretty Sirius, Destiny Arts, and more.

I spoke with Mime Troupe collective member and festival organizer Taylor Gonzalez about the upcoming shows, as well as the Troupe’s past, present, and future…

Collective member Taylor Gonzalez

The San Francisco Mime Troupe has been around since 1959, but most people only know about the annual shows in the parks. What else do you want people to know about what the Troupe does?

Taylor Gonzalez: “We are more than just a theater company! When the Troupe first started it was mainly focused on performance, and our shows remain very grounded in being activist theater, making a point to express the needs of the working class. Over the years we have slowly shifted towards both performing and education. We pride ourselves on our Youth Theater Project, an after school program for high school students, which we have been operating for 28 years.

We also facilitate a summer workshop program for college-aged students and others, as well as another high school program called the Young California Writers Project, focused on teaching students about writing for theater, which culminates in a live performance by professional Bay Area actors. These are wonderful education programs and opportunities for young people, which are sometimes overlooked.”

SFMT’s Youth Theater Project meets in the building’s studio space. Photo by Taylor Gonzalez

Where did you get the idea to do a festival for this year’s fundraiser? How much are you hoping to raise, and where will the funds go?

TG: The idea came together with a conversation I was having with Evan Lanam, the front man for The Live Oaks (who will be playing on April 27th). We talked a lot about doing regular concerts at the Mime Troupe building, and having them be a fundraiser for the company. I kept creating different connections with local bands, and now we have the festival coming up on April 27th! We are hoping to raise somewhere around $20,000. This money would help with many of the projects around the building that we need to fix: bad plumbing, leaks, old carpets with holes in them, etc. We need these fixes in order to make the building a center for artists and our community.

What is the history of the Mime Troupe’s building, and what are the future plans for it?

TG: Before SFMT owned the building it was owned by Fantasy Records. There are a lot of albums that were created in the building (including the Charlie Brown Christmas album!), and it was also used as rehearsal space for jazz artists of the time. The Mime Troupe has owned the building since the mid-1980s, and it has always been where we create all our costumes, set pieces, props and have all our rehearsals.

Now we want it to become a community space for artists, families in the neighborhood, and future theater creators. In 2014 we were lucky enough to partner with Bar Architects to create a multi-million dollar feasibility study with blueprints and zoning plans to totally rebuild the space and turn it into a full theater and community space. We hope one day to be able to accomplish this project, but we will need many investors to make it come to life.

Bar Architect’s design for the future of the Mime Troupe building, which includes a full theater and community space.

Where do you see the Troupe fitting into San Francisco’s artistic future?

TG: My hope is that we can keep our collective mindset alive for as long as possible and show that you don’t need a traditional methodology to keep a theater company going. I hope we can get back to touring as well– being able to share our stories on a national tour is something that company has been sorely missing for years now.

Hopefully this can change soon for us, and we can inspire more youth and workers across the country. And I’m hoping to make these concerts that we have been hosting a lasting thing. I love the community we have been creating. We want to continue to raise funds so we can make more artists known, and help promote our platform of art for and by the working class.

Members of Bow & Arrow Circus working to improve the Troupe’s studio theater space. They will be performing at the April 27th event as well. Photo by Genie Cartier

The Mime Troupe has always been on the forefront of progressive political movements. How have they managed to stay relevant all these years?

Trying to stay in the mindset of not what has happened, but what will be happening to society in the near future has helped us stay relevant with the topics we discuss in our shows. As long as we continue to tell the stories of working-class people beaten down and betrayed by the systems that are supposed to be helping them, we will stay relevant because those issues persist. The day that our systems support the workers and create an equal playing field will be the day the Troupe has nothing to discuss– but I don’t see that coming anytime soon.

The Mime Troupe’s fundraising festival takes place on Sat. April 27, 2024 (One Day Only) – 2:00pm – 10:00pm (doors at 1:30 pm), at the historic SFMT Building – 855 Treat Ave. (at 21st St.) in SF 94110 – located in the Mission district of San Francisco. $20 suggested donation at the door. Follow @sftroupers or find out more about the Troupe here: https://www.sfmt.org/