It’s like old times, or at least like the Before Times. Every Fourth of July, the San Francisco Mime Troupe premieres a new musical comedy political satire that tours Bay Area Parks for the rest of the summer, with donations encouraged to keep the show going.

Only for the last couple of years that hasn’t happened. Though SFMT has kept its hand in during the COVID-19 pandemic with a few radio serial podcasts, the theater collective has held off a return to parks until now.

Now the Mime Troupe is back in parks with a new show appropriately titled “Back to the Way Things Were,” though, of course, the nostalgic title is tongue in cheek. It’s the troupe’s first touring show in Bay Area parks since 2019’s “Treasure Island.”

Written by Michael Gene Sullivan with Marie Cartier, “Back to the Way Things Were” does feature a family attempting to go out and do things after being cooped up at home because of the pandemic, but the show’s not really about COVID at all. It’s about voracious capitalists profiting off human misery and destroying the environment, and basically everything being terrible and getting worse.

Small wonder that Zoe, the teenager at the center of the play, has become so nihilistic. Played with scowling exasperation by Alicia MP Nelson, Zoe volunteers at an unhoused placement center, but she also doesn’t believe there’s any hope for the future and doesn’t pretend otherwise.

By contrast, her parents are blithely optimistic, cheerily singing that things are at last getting “back to the way things were.” Norman Gee and Lizzie Calogero keep up a comically sunny, old-timey mom-and-pop demeanor as Ralph and Alice — yes, like “The Honeymooners.” Ralph is even an ex-bus driver who’s now an Uber driver, while Alice just got a new job as a package sorter at a fulfillment center. Of course, the world outside their door turns out to be a parade of horrors giving just a small sampling of how messed up our society is today.

Aside from Nelson as Zoe, all of the actors play multiple roles. Calogero portrays a harried but dedicated social worker, while Gee shows up as a patient but endlessly delayed client waiting for housing help with his volumes of paperwork.

Andre Amarotico is a smooth and smarmy venture capitalist looking to privatize social services, the glad-handing guy who’s obviously going to become the villain of the piece. He also plays an overworked fast food employee, a helpful street protestor, a predatory cop and a shattered idealist.

Like 2018’s Mime Troupe show, “Seeing Red,” this one involves time travel. Keiko Shimosato Carreiro appears as Book, a seemingly crazed visitor from who-knows-where in a cowboy hat, long duster and coveralls (fun costumes by Brooke Jennings). Book is jumpy and paranoid about all the surveillance devices that we all routinely carry and install that allow a mysterious “Them” to track our movements. (The show’s weakest running gag is about whether to call them “They” or “Them,” as if that were a point of legitimate confusion.) And she keeps trying to draw Zoe into her mission to save the future.

Directed by longtime collective member and frequent performer Velina Brown, it’s a lively show showcasing the Troupe’s trademark quick shifts of scene and character, aided by Carlos Aceves’ versatile set. With music and lyrics by Daniel Savio, who leads the three-piece SFMT Band, the songs in a variety of styles are fairly catchy, especially the chipper title tune.

At 100 minutes without intermission, it’s actually one of SFMT’s longer musicals, as some other recent ones have been just a little over an hour. It’s fast-paced enough that it doesn’t feel overlong so much as meandering, less focused on a particular issue than sampling a smorgasbord of social woes that capitalism has wrought. Like Zoe, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by it all and conclude that we’re doomed — at least in the absence of fanciful sci-fi solutions like the ones she stumbles into. But even so, kudos to the Mime Troupe for calling out America’s broken and sabotaged systems and demanding that we somehow collectively do better.

Sam Hurwitt is a Bay Area arts journalist and playwright. Contact him at shurwitt@gmail.com or on Twitter at twitter.com/shurwitt.

IF YOU GO

What: “Back to the Way Things Were”

When: Through Sept 5; various locations and times, including at 7 pm July 20 at the Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley

Admission: Free, donations accepted

Information: 415-285-1717; sfmt.org

Rating (out of five stars): ★★★★

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Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks. Now, it also wants to be known as the place to go for handyman services.

That’s not going over well with a San Antonio businessman who’s been offering home-repair services under the name Ace Handyman Services for 4½ years.

John Allen’s Ace Handyman Services Inc. this week sued Ace Hardware Corp. to stop the retailer from using the name Ace Handyman Services in Bexar and surrounding counties for a new franchise business offering home repairs, maintenance and improvement services.

“We have built a strong reputation for high-quality work and service,” Allen, 50, said Thursday. “If Ace Hardware were to start using the name ‘Ace’ for the same services we provide, it would cause serious confusion for our existing customers and potential customers.”

That would run Allen out of business, his suit adds.

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A representative for Ace Hardware, a retailer-owned cooperative based in Oak Brook, Ill., said in an email the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation. The company, with more than 5,300 hardware stores in 70 countries, generated $6.1 billion in revenue last year.

Ace Hardware jumped into the home repair and improvement business in September when it acquired Handyman Matters, a Denver-based franchise that handles homeowners’ to-do lists and larger projects. Handyman Matters had 56 franchisees employing about 250 people in 23 states.

Two of the franchisees operate in the San Antonio area, according to Allen’s lawsuit. They’re also defendants in his complaint.

At the time of the deal, Ace Hardware announced it would change Handyman Matters’ name to Ace Handyman Services — the same name as Allen’s business.

The re-branding was expected to be completed this quarter. San Antonio trademark and patent lawyer Ted Lee, who represents Allen, said he understood the switch takes effect Monday.

Ace Hardware is following in the footsteps of larger competitors in offering home repair and home improvement services.

Home Depot and Lowe’s each use independent contractors to offer a range of home services. In its 2018 annual report, Home Depot attributed an uptick in demand for installation services to shifting demographics, including “baby boomer customers who may have historically been DIY customers but who are now looking for someone to complete a project for them.”

Amazon is tapping into the market, too. The company rolled out a program in 2015 that connects customers with professionals who can put together furniture, install ceiling fans and replace light fixtures. Online marketplaces such as Thumbtack, TaskRabbit and Handy have also developed a following.

On Monday, simultaneously with filing the lawsuit, Allen’s lawyers obtained a temporary restraining order against Ace Hardware and the San Antonio franchisees. They are barred from using the mark Ace Handyman Services in Bexar and seven adjacent counties under an order signed by state District Judge Norma Gonzales in San Antonio.

The judge issued the order “ex parte,” meaning lawyers for Ace Hardware were not present to argue against it. A hearing on a temporary injunction is set for next week.

The suit also seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages.

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Lee said use of the word “Ace” in connection with a home repair and improvement business would create an issue locally because of Allen’s use.

“We wouldn’t have the right to prevent anybody from using ‘Ace’ for all kinds of different things,” Lee added. “But when they come into our trade territory, with the same name, for the same services that we’re offering, there’s a problem.”

The lawsuit describes Allen as a disabled veteran. He served in the Marine Corps from 1988 to 1991. He sustained a neck injury during aerial gunner training in a helicopter and subsequently was discharged as a result of the injury, he said. A bulging disk causes nerve issues in his neck and arms, and he routinely suffers migraine headaches, he said.

Allen’s business has one employee and three contractors.

After Ace Hardware acquired Handyman Matters, it filed five trademark applications with the intent to use Ace Handyman Services and other names.

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About three weeks ago, the lawsuit says, Allen visited one of the local Handyman Matters franchises. A representative said he had contacted Handyman Matters corporate offices to inform them that an Ace Handyman Services already operated in San Antonio.

The representative was told “not to worry about it. Handyman Matter would handle it,” the suit says.

Allen’s claims in the lawsuit are for common law trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Staff writer Madison Iszler contributed to this report.

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD

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Phase 3 of the 49ers offseason workout program is slated to begin on Monday. While the entire squad was allowed to participate in phase 2, attack and defense could not work against each other.

That will change when the team takes to the field on Monday. While much attention is paid to the quarterback position, let’s take a look at three more battles to look forward to as the off-season progresses.

1. Run back

The 49ers typically have five running backs on their active roster. One of them will be Kyle Juszcyk, which means that one of the halfbacks – Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr., Trey Sermon, Elijah Mitchell or JaMycal Hasty – will look inside from the outside.

The running back room has moved a bit this off-season, with the focus on larger backs. It will be interesting to see how this talented group develops over the coming months.

2. Ambry Thomas & Deommodore Lenoir versus Brandon Aiyuk & Deebo Samuel

The 49ers put in a draft pick for Thomas and Lenoir in the third and fifth rounds. One of the strengths for both newbies is their ability to play close man-to-man coverage. Thomas and Lenoir did well during the 49ers Rookie Mini Camp, but this will be their first real test.

Aiyuk has the potential to be a true # 1 recipient, and Samuel is one of the most physical recipients in the NFL. If the newbies are able to hold their own, it could be a good sign of depth in secondary school.

3. Aaron Banks versus Arik Armstead

The 6’5 ”, 338 pound banks were dominant during his tenure at Notre Dame. Banks are rarely pushed back into passport protection and Armstead is very strong, especially when rushing into it. If you watch these two play one on one you will likely have to wait for the pads to light up during training camp, but it will be a fun struggle to watch.

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Almost every major metropolitan area in the US saw an exodus of residents in 2020, but no more than the notoriously expensive San Francisco, according to a new study.

In the most expensive city in the United States, at least twice as many residents traveled to other places in the past year as in 2019, around 18 per 1,000 residents. CBRE Group, a commercial real estate company, conducted its migration analysis based on data from the US Postal Service.

Much of the outgoing residents were young, affluent workers, Eric Willet, CBRE research director in Los Angeles, told Newsweek. The high-end rental housing markets had the most vacancies and fell overall.

“We can assume that a large chunk of those were technicians because they’re a large segment of the economy,” Willet said. “If we look at the data, most of the residents who moved out of the Bay Area moved nearby. Very few people who moved out of San Francisco have moved out of the state.”

The results reflect the appeal of cheaper housing and more bay space, as well as the flexibility of remote working, which motivated so many Franciscans to leave the city.

Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE’s Tech Insights Center, told Newsweek that many people, especially in San Francisco, were finding they didn’t have enough space to work from home during the pandemic. Additionally, with the unique amenities that lure people to disused cities, there was little reason to stay.

According to the study, millennials have been gradually moving out of San Francisco for years before the pandemic, reflecting a growing trend of tech giants targeting other subway areas. Data from nonprofit sf.citi shows that 63 percent of San Francisco-based businesses downsized their physical offices during the pandemic, freeing up 15.8 million square feet of commercial space.

This corresponds to an increase in vacancies of almost 20 percent. According to a survey by sf.citi of 83 founders and CEOs, at least a quarter of those surveyed said that around 30 percent of their workforce will stay away. More than a dozen large companies, including Airbnb, PayPal, Salesforce, and Twitter, have either scaled down or moved from home after work.

Digital Realty and Oracle announced plans to move their headquarters to Austin, Texas, and Credit Karma has completely closed its San Francisco offices, according to the data. Optimizely, a software company, rents all of its headquarters’ 78,000 square feet, and although Yelp plans to maintain a presence in the city, it has also rented its entire headquarters.

Some CEOs have berated California, such as Elon Musk, who very publicly announced last year that he would move Tesla’s facilities to Texas after a dispute with the local government over COVID regulations during the pandemic. Silicon Valley has had longstanding tensions with the general public and local government, which hit the tech sector with a “homeless tax” passed in 2018 and maintained in September 2020 after legal challenges.

The tax put on the ballot paper by the Coalition for Homelessness to increase funding for homeless services such as shelters, including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and the city’s Chamber of Commerce are campaigning against the move, which legislation will raise taxes by 0.5 percent for companies making more than $ 50 million annually.

While the city permits obtained from the Teslarati publication show Tesla’s plans to expand Fremont, California, the factory suggests that Musk’s threats were nothing more than bravery. The number of people who moved from San Francisco to Texas during the pandemic rose more than 30 percent, according to the study.

Most of the city’s pandemic emigrants stayed nearby, however, and moves from San Francisco County to Sacramento County increased 70 percent in 2020. Yasukochi said he was not concerned about the corporate sector losing influence or strength. In fact, he expects a kind of boomerang effect in his population very soon.

“People were suddenly free to report to an office,” said Yasukochi. “We expect people to somehow return to the city of San Francisco as soon as their employers demand that they return to the offices at least temporarily. We have already seen some early announcements volunteering to open their faces.” Base, but we expect to see this on a much larger scale this summer. “

Protesters hold signs as they march down Market Street prior to a rally to show solidarity with Asian Americans at the Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco, California on March 26, 2021. A new study found that the city lost more residents to resettlement than any other metropolitan area in the United States
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

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