Storytelling Workshop at the Piggyback Fringe Festival

Yesterday, Chris and I did a workshop on telling family stories theatrically. We were in Wakefield/La Peche's brand new community center, and had a pretty substantial space. It was a smaller class with only four participants, but that meant we were able to give each group individual attention. But before we split them into groups, we did a warm-up for the whole class. It was one that Chris knows called "Wa", and it was fairly challenging with just six people (four students plus two teachers), but it did the job we needed it to do: got everybody into their bodies and playing around. Then we split them into pairs, and Chris and I each stuck with a pair to help them develop their skit. We called one partner "A" and the other partner "1" to get rid of any semblance of hierarchy - this was also a workshop in devising, after all. First A told a story from their family to 1, who told it back from the first person point of view. Then they switched. They selected one of the stories to develop into a skit to perform in front of the class. We got two very different, very good skits. I had the impression that it was a very empowering experience for the students: if they can accomplish that in an hour, just imagine what they can accomplish after three months of development and rehearsal!

"The Baskets" World Premiere

Last night The Baskets opened for the first time ever, anywhere. The audience wasn't has big as we would have hoped, but they were very appreciative. It was a great experience to gauge their reactions throughout the show. They loved the opening story - an old one about the Greedy Father and the creation of basket materials. When I finished it and jumped forward millenia to the 90s, it seemed like they were a little disappointed - they were just having so much fun in the world of the First People! But they really started to get into it when I began to hang pictures up on the network of clothes lines we rigged up above the stage. When I went back to an old-time story, I could feel them kind of sit up. Something's changed? What's happening? Then they got really curious - it was our Flood story, so it was a recognizable theme, and yet markedly different from the Bible version they're probably used to. After the show, Chris and the young woman up after me in the church told me that everybody was smiling as they left. Today we're going to hit the street (there's only one in Wakefield) advertising to see if we can't bring in a few more people for the Sunday show. Also, we're going to teach a class on devising theater based on family histories.

Oh, and when I asked if anybody had ever heard of the Hoopa Tribe during the play, about three people raised their hands. So right on, Hoopas.

Our venue.