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!).
Apr 03
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