If the name Argo Thompson strikes a chord, it’s probably because he was the founder and is a current advisor to Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre. The theater is, in turn, now housed at the California Theater, also in Santa Rosa, which Thompson opened in 2022.
But not everyone may know him as his darker, more outrageous alter ego, Riff Raff, a true rebel and champion of the local competitive air guitar circuit. If one’s first response is to scoff and think, “Air guitar competitions? You must be joking,” they’re not alone. Thompson was himself once a skeptic.
Speaking via email, Thompson says, “Two years ago, I was directing a play called Airness at Left Edge Theatre. The play centers on characters from the world of competitive air guitar.”…