TheBanyanTree: Tellabration 2005

[trebro at att.net]

Last night, Liz and I took my parents to see Tellabration 2005, an international storytelling event that was supposed to be happening in communities all over the world at about the same time.

Despite the fact that this has occurred for years, it was the first I had heard of it.  Naturally, as soon as I knew, I simply had to go.

The tales were spun in the basement of a local arts center, with all the lights off and a few spotlights filtered through thick reflective glass, to simulate a flickering campfire.  Hosted by a local public radio show that specializes in stories for all ages, we were treated to six tales by six readers, one of whom I've seen many times at a local festival.

The first story was a punning poem about a man who lost his head due to a very poor choice of words.  Next came a coming of age story about a city boy who vacations in the country one summer.  Then we heard about an ugly dog with a good heart, complete with the requisite audience participation.  There is nothing quite like a room full of adults barking, let me tell you.

We took a short break, where I became obsessed with pronouncing french baked goods as arrogantly as I could, and then they resumed with three more stories.

First came a tale of a man who questioned the wisdom of Allah--until he's given a painful reminder of why God makes the decisions he does.  In the middle story, a man gave a dramatic reading of the last days of Beowulf, a favorite story of mine.  For the grand finale, the storyteller with whom I was most familiar adapted Romeo And Juliet, which the emcee introduced as, "Shakespeare's attempt to remake West Side Story."  He did a great job, and before we knew it, Verona was weeping and we were being returned to the real world again.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening, as we reconnected with a lost art--putting people in a room and just listening.

-Rob