Dolores Hydock (photoby Brian Peters)
Storytelling Live!, the International Storytelling Center’s celebrated teller-in-residence series, continues its season. The program features 26 of America’s best-loved storytellers, one each week May through October. Each teller appears in matinee performances Tuesday through Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall.
Starting out the month, Aug. 28-Sept. 1, is Dolores Hydock of Alabama. Hydock’s style fills the stage with wit, energy and a swirl of characters that bring to life an array of personal stories, medieval adventures, oral histories and literary classics. She has collaborated with the Birmingham Museum of Art to blend stories with art, and her Christmas story special has been aired on NPR-affiliate WBHM in Birmingham. Three of her original one-woman story-plays have been performed at regional theatres and festivals.
Award-winning storyteller and NSN Oracle Circle of Excellence recipient, Megan Wells of Illinois appears Sept. 4-8. Wells’ telling is time travel at its best. She takes listeners into deep mind cinema, bringing worlds alive. A master of the literary tale as well as longform myth, Wells is known for her timing, character portrayals and the theatrical sensitivity she brings to her work. Wells also performs “Dracula,†Sept. 6, at 7:30 p.m. Experience the emotional thrill of Bram Stoker’s gothic masterpiece in this elegantly horrific one-woman show. Tickets for the evening show are $15 and reservations are suggested.
Pippa White performs Sept. 11-15 as Storytelling Live’s resident storyteller. White turned to solo performing in 1994. Prior to that, she had an extensive career in theater and television on the West Coast. She has crisscrossed the country touring 32 states, including three times at the United Solo Theatre Festival in New York City, which garnered a review that called her work “riveting, heartbreaking and suspenseful.†She has been a teaching artist with the Nebraska Arts Council for many years, and has received several awards in recognition of her work, including two Individual Artist Fellowship awards from the Nebraska Arts Council.
Storytelling Live! welcomes Gay Ducey, of California Sept. 18-22. Ducey is descended from generations of southern women who prized independence and a sassy mouth. She tells traditional tales, personal and family narratives and historical scrappers. Her choices are eclectic, as befits her restless nature, and often climb fences and cross borders, seeking the connections between us. Her style has been described as funny, eloquent and close to the heart. Ducey has shared her work across the U.S., Ireland and Canada, and was a commissioned artist at the Smithsonian Institution. She is a recipient of the NSN ORACLE Circle of Excellence and Lifetime Achievement awards. On Sept. 22 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Ducey also presents “That’s Not Fair,†a workshop geared toward using storytelling in the classroom to encourage tolerance, critical thinking, empathy and good decisions. This event is sponsored by the Niswonger Foundation and is offered free to educators.
Rounding out the month, Sept. 25-29, is Beth Horner from Illinois. Noted for her spirited stage presence, comic sensibility, and warm, energetic style, Horner’s tales run the gamut from a tour-de-force take-off on Edgar Allan Poe to the poignant, powerful story of a WWII soldier; from a bawdy romance novel satire to her 96-year old father’s humorous philosophy on aging as he signs on for a Life Management Skills class. An NSN ORACLE Circle of Excellence award recipient, she has worked with Nashville songwriters at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort’s Lyrics & Lore, taught NASA astrobiologists the fine art of storytelling, performed at The International Art of Storytelling Festival and on Live from National Geographic.
For more information about Storytelling Live! or to purchase tickets to any of the performances call 800-952-8392 ext. 222 or 423-913-1276.
