The San Francisco Mime Troupe wants to entertain and challenge audiences with live satire, but Michael Gene Sullivan, the writer, director and an actor for this year’s show — Disruption: A Musical Farce — says he aims for more than two-dimensional hilarity.

“I’m very much against the pie-throwing satire of ‘here’s my enemy, I set him up, create a straw man, make fun of him, set fire to him,’ ” he says on this week’s Davisville. “When I was describing the [regular working-class cop] character [in the play] to someone, they were like, ‘I don’t want this guy to be a hero.’ I said, ‘he’s not a hero, but he’s not a villain, either.’ He’s totally understandable.…” (Sullivan plays the part in the play; the photo shows him in costume)

The nonprofit can't currently afford its former big summer tours, but has kept Davis on its annual circuit. This year they’ll perform July 10 in the Brunelle theater in Davis. Tickets are free but they ask viewers to donate $20 apiece.