We sat on the Press Blanket next to Dick Cheney! Sadly, Ed Holmes has retired after 28 years with the Mime Troupe, but we asked him to show us how he performed Cheney, surely the most beloved and reviled character of recent Mime Troupe history. The secret: he can sneer out of both sides of his mouth at the same time.
Only the Mime Troupe has a Press Blanket.
The current show, Michael Gene Sullivan's "Walls," has fine acting, good songs and a lot of big laughs. In light of last November's election it is great to once again see farce only on a Berkeley stage, not the national stage.
This year's subject is immigration. As Breitbart News duly noted, "Walls" is about a lesbian relationship between an illegal alien and an immigration cop. Marilet Martinez is Zaniyah Nahuatl, who has come across the border looking for work. She is alternately perky and traumatized. Velina Brown plays Agent L. Mary Jones, Zaniyah's lover and protector, while Rotimi Agbabiaka plays numerous roles, including the refugee store-owner Bahdoon. Martinez, Brown and Agbabiaka are all excellent but the show gives its best laughs to Lizzie Calogero as the unpronounceable Irish immigration official Cliodhna Abhabullogue. Calogero is a wonderful physical comic and leads us to a conclusion obvious to everyone except Breitbart news.
Perhaps because The Mime Troupe has been around the Bay Area for so many years, there are always those who expect a company of actors to come up with answers to complex societal problems. We think part of the solution is to have a great time on a sunny afternoon in a local park, listening to live music and watching fine actors maneuver across a tiny stage.
"Walls" has done it again. It wouldn't be summertime without the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG
The San Francisco Theater Blog awards "Walls" Three Stars with a Bangle of Praise for all four actors. By Labor Day the show will be even tighter but can't be any more fun. By the way, Bretibart, you are right. There is a red star in the SFMT logo.
San Francisco Mime Troupe 2017: "Walls"
Various parks around the Bay Area
Weekends through Sunday, Sept. 3
See SFMT.ORG for complete schedule
FREE
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