I think it’s safe to say that storytelling is almost primal. Every culture has a strong history of oral tradition; before books, newspapers, cable television, the internet, stories were handed down from one generation to the next when someone- an elder, a designated storyteller, a performer/actor- gave an oral recounting to someone else, or more likely, to a group of someone elses. A community’s collective myth, folklore, symbolism, and cultural tenets were codified, institutionalized, and transported through time via the art of storytelling. The Ijo tribe of the Niger delta recounted their Ozidi saga through a seven-day storytelling, dance, and drama event. Korea’s p’ansori tradition shared stories within a community using sung storytelling. In Siena and its surrounding Italian countryside, the veglia, a nightly communal activity made up of storytelling and verbal games, was a popular social custom during the 15th century. Storytelling and its communal nature helped established the roots of theatrical tradition, in conjunction with religious ceremony. Unfortunately in our age of soundbites, elevator speeches, adult ADD, the “in and out”, the 2 minute pitch, of everything needing to be instantaneous, storytelling can be seen as archaic, old-fashioned, unhip, a little too “kumbaya around a campfire”. If only people used to webzines and half-hour sitcoms will give it a chance- the power of a shared communal experience listening to stories leisurely and passionately told live is astounding and addicting. It is the power that the terrific theater group Serendipity Theatre Company is harnessing in its storytelling event, Second Story, one of the best-kept secrets, and one of the most interesting cultural experiences, in Chicago (although seeing the good-sized crowd last week at Red Kiva when blog mentor Tom and I attended the most recent edition of Second Story, the secret might be out- which is a great thing!).
Serendipity started Second Story in May 2002 initially as a two week festival of storytellers and musicians. Over the past few years, it has evolved into monthly readings, with the two week festival in the spring as centerpiece of the program. It’s usually held at the second floor event space of Webster Wine Bar, but it has since expanded to include evenings at Red Kiva in the West Loop (which is actually an apt venue, in my mind, since the circular aspect of the kiva-like design of the lounge heightens the community experience, sort of a metaphorical sitting around a campfire). In the course of around two and a half hours, three to four storytellers get up in front of the group and tell (or more appropriate read) their tale, which roughly lasts from 15-20 minutes each. In between the storytelling sets, a musical guest performs and the audience orders more wine and cocktails and exchanges stories of their own (the Second Story name doesn’t really refer to the Webster Wine Bar space, which is what I initially thought, but rather to the stories that we, attendees of the event-who have been moved, provoked, reminded, inspired by the storytellers-tell each other after we hear their stories read out loud). In last week’s event, I actually thought the stories were just ok, except for the first one, told in a really riveting style by the storyteller, about how her 30th birthday played out like a noir movie. Of the three stories told that night, I thought that this was the one that had the clearest point of view, the best narrative structure, and the most interesting writing. But I think more than the stories themselves, Second Story is so memorable and quite a gem in the Chicago arts scene, because of the audience experience. The audience cheered, laughed, hooted, clapped, and viscerally reacted throughout the readings which both gave the storytellers some more mojo and passion and made their readings more lively and engaging, and the writing more immediately resonant. But they also paid attention and let their silences matter. More than a play, more than a sporting event, more than a concert, the audience is so much a part of the act of storytelling. For me, it was really gratifying to see so many people involved and keenly interested in an art form and a communications vehicle that seems to be on its way to extinction. Tom and I didn’t get a chance to tell or hear “second stories” in between the storytelling sets, since we were busily and hungrily looking out for a pizza that the kitchen and the Red Kiva waitboys preoccupied with next day’s gym workout, seemed to have only vaguely remembered that we ordered (but that’s a story for another day). However, I will be back for another round at Second Story to hear more stories both on stage and in the audience, to experience the thrill of community, to help keep an ancient art stay alive in times when short and sweet, faster and faster, do-it-yourself, abbreviations and summarizations define the way we live. Those folks sitting around a fire eons ago had quite a good thing going!
The 2008 Second Story Festival runs from April 24 to May 8 at the second story of Webster Wine Bar, 1480 Webster Ave. Preview events are scheduled on April 13 and April 20, also at Webster. The Red Kiva series starts up again in June. Check out the website for the full schedule and all the other events (Looptopia, Literally Sexy at the Victory Gardens) that the storytellers will be reading at.
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