S.F. Mime Troupe Puts Bob Cratchit & Songs Center Stage

by Barry David Horwitz

In “A Red Carol,” the SF Mime Troupe has revealed the true focus of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Performed in Z Space’s indoor, industrial, thrift store settings of old furniture and brilliant songs, The Mime Troupe offers a new vision.

The focus is not Ebeneezer Scrooge, the old guy who has stolen the spotlight for generations, but on Bob Cratchit, his beleaguered worker. Of course, it’s fun to ridicule the miserly capitalist, but it’s also easy to secretly identify with him—after all, capitalists rule.

In Director Michael Gene Sullivan’s “Red Carol,” the spotlight falls on Bob and his Cratchit family. Workers are now the tale’s hidden heroes.

Bob Cratchit, the warm-hearted, affectionate father of Tiny Tim, played touchingly by Brian Rivera, is our narrator and guide. Rivera takes us through the living hell of overworked and underpaid workers. Rivera warmly tells the story, centering on his family, his beloved son, his wife and daughters.

Instead of saintly victims, these are real folks who work at real jobs. Scrooge asks: “Are there no prisons? Are there no Workhouses?”

Cratchit enlightens us:  There’s no plague-free water to drink, so people drink gin—even give it to their children.

The poor are sent to workhouses, where they are forced to climb “The Treadmill,” a giant machine of torture to produce power—until they drop and are crushed by the monstrous machine.

As for the famous remark: “Humbug”—that’s a swindle—all too common in 19^th Century Britain and in capitalist economies still–the Crash, the scam, the cheat, the con—regular features of the system that even Scrooge fears.

The more money, the more fears. Think Ponzi schemes, wage-theft, medical insurance denials.! Think people forced to live in the streets of San Francisco.

There’s the real Humbug, and Bob Cratchit explains the plight of the working poor while he tells the story of good people who sing in the streets and struggle on, with little hope.

Velina Brown plays an angelic Boy Caroler, and serenades us sweetly on guitar—a lovely voice that cuts to human truths.

Jed Parsario—with joy and a great smile—does a superb job as Christmas Past, Ignorance, and a comic Businessman.

Lisa Hori-Garcia is transcendent as Belle and Scrooge’s charwoman.

Keiko Shimosato Carreiro shines as the Ghost of Marley and Christmas Present.

Mike McShane’s Scrooge is formidable and touching—no longer the dominant villain but an ordinary man who inevitably must learn about real people.

Thank you to our S.F. Mime Troupe for a timely and touching trip to Past, Present, and Future. Rivera’s Bob Cratchit as Everyman helps us understand that the story is not about one man but about Everyone.

Now it’s our turn to make a better world for Everyone. See their new vision now!

“A Red Carol: An Activist Adaptation” –based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted for the stage by Michael Gene Sullivan, songs by Joe Hill & others, including “The Red Carol” with lyrics by Daniel Savio & music by Pierre Degeyter, sound by Taylor Gonzalez, by The S.F. Mime Troupe, at Z Space, San Francisco.

Info: sfmt.org – to December 29, 2024.

Cast: Mike McShane, Brian Rivera, Jed Parsario, Velina Brown, Lisa Hori-Garcia, & Keiko Shimosato Carreiro.

SFMT Band: Daniel Savio, Guinevere Q, & Jason Young.

Banner photo: Brian Rivera (Bob Cratchit) & Mike McShane (Scrooge). Photos: Mike Melnyk