The cast (clockwise from left): Mark Rachel, Sarah McKereghan, Liz Roddy, Noah Kelly, Deborah Wade. Photo by Peter Q. Parish

Mimetic
(far from what it seems)

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RIPE Theatre Company returns to EXIT with Mimetic , a new comedy about Dharma, Fate and Free Will, March 7-29

RIPE's latest is for anyone who asks, "Why does this always happen to ME?!"

"An unusually intelligent and able young company." - Robert Avila, SF Bay Guardian

"Wonderfully wry...simply brilliant...RIPE is a force to be reckoned with." - Pat Craig, Contra Costa Times

San Francisco.   February, 2008.   RIPE Theatre is at it again, finding inventive ways to write and create fresh, innovative performances. Its latest, Mimetic, is a comedy written and performed by Noah Kelly, Sarah McKereghan, Mark Rachel, Liz Roddy and Deborah Wade, and directed by Peter Q. Parish.

The group's 12 th show at the EXIT, where it is a company-in-residence, plays Fridays and Saturdays, March 7-29 at EXIT Main Stage, 156 Eddy Street (between Mason & Taylor) in downtown San Francisco. All shows at 8:00 p.m. Tickets $12-$20 at the door, $20 online.   Reservations: (415) 673-3847, or online at www.theexit.org .

Like their award winning @six (winner of Best Ensemble in the 2006 SF Fringe Festival) Mimetic's script is derived from the characters, a mimicry of human reactions, animal behaviors, and the search for reason and meaning - "Why does this always happen to ME?!" Dharma, fate, and free-will come into question in this dark farce where a turtle's shell is its fort from which it lobs verbal abuse upon the sacrificial kangaroo - where the hero craves conflict with the boy next door - and a whole new meaning is brought to the term, "Wise-Ass."

How RIPE has put Mimetic together

In Mimetic , RIPE company members concentrate on creating character driven theater. Director Peter Q. Parish uses techniques from classic theoreticians Vsevolod Meyerhold, Michael Chekhov and Augustus Boal to help the ensemble create characters based on archetypes and animals.  

"Putting these deeply rooted, three-dimensional characters in real life situations is where the comedy really comes through," Parish says.

"It's different from improvisation because it's a fully-scripted piece," says RIPE co-artistic director Sarah McKereghan.

"But it's also different from a traditional play because there are five of us writing it together.   Our director is not only directing the execution of the script but also the writing of it.   We all know the characters so well, inside and out, that they seem to be writing the script.   It's a very exciting process.   It's challenging and very satisfying as an artist.   It's also very RIPE," McKereghan explains.

For more information, Contact: Gary Carr, EXIT Publicist (925) 672-8717, carrpool@pacbell.net