about mugwumpin / innovation and artistic excellence / press

about mugwumpin
mugwumpin was formed in San Francisco in 2003, with the aim of reinvigorating live performance as a communal event.  The visceral nature of mugwumpin performances constantly reminds the audience that they are right here, right now, participating in something unique.  We hope that this sense of presence spills out the theater doors, bringing a deeper awareness of one’s surrounding community.

mugwumpin is now at the forefront of young American companies interested in creating a visual experience, questioning the primacy of text and narrative in theater.  We strive to embody common creative values, emphasizing collaborative creation through play, honoring our different aesthetic perspectives and recognizing the strengths to be found in bringing them together.

innovation and artistic excellence
From our first production, 2004’s Rabbit Causes Dog, which won Best Play at the San Francisco Fringe Festival, mugwumpin has been recognized as one of the city’s leading creators of innovative theater.  Our collaborative ethos has generated many fruitful projects with Bay Area companies, including Shotgun Players, the EXIT Theater, and Theater of Yugen.  We constantly seek opportunities to exchange ideas with other artists from many disciplines.

mugwumpin is also committed to bringing our work to theaters around America and the world.  We've performed in far-thrown places from Boulder, CO, to Bebersee, Germany.  Beginning with our appearance at the 2008 Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre, we are continuing to build a broad community of artists challenging their chosen discipline, to the benefit of San Francisco's cultural presence in the world.

We maintain a robust presence in the San Francisco community, seeking out opportunities to collaborate with a wide array of artists and building bridges amongst our community of supporters.  We are honored to enjoy the financial support of many individuals in the community who are eager to see our work flourish.

what the press has to say
"mugwumpin channels the juice of performance into the sloughs and sluices of the unsaid and half-said, the subliminal and the taken-for-granted.  It’s absorbing, nothing but theatrical—and therefore hard to describe. A catalogue of possible influences and parallels wouldn’t do them justice."  —Ken Bullock, Berkeley Daily Planet