The Women’s Storytelling Festival is getting closer by the day! Our fifth annual gathering starts Thursday, March 14th with our online kickoff show and runs through Sunday, March 17th in Fairfax, VA.
Festival details and tickets are right here!
Today we’re bringing you the second installment of our “get to know the tellers” posts. I asked all our tellers to answer two questions:
Question 1: What sort of stories do you usually tell, and for what audiences?
Question 2: What can you tell us about what you’ll be presenting at the festival?
Here’s how today’s featured tellers answered those questions…
Michele Carlo
1. My stories are mostly from my life, many from the perspective of growing up as a redheaded Puerto Rican in an Italian-Irish neighborhood in The Bronx, New York.
2. The story I’ll be telling (a combo of two: “A Tale of Two Weddings” and “Man-O-Pause”) has a timeline that runs from youth to middle age and examines cultural identity, aging – and if it is possible to find a partner after one’s societal “expiration date.” And did I mention it’s funny?
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Fanny Crawford
1. Half my repertoire is family stories – about my ancestors, immediate family & extended relations – telling for all ages – focus on different parts or messages for different audiences – and portraying some family members in period dress. One quarter of my telling is folk, fairy and tall tales. And the other quarter are regional historical narratives – eg. Johnny Appleseed; Jane Sinclair, enslaved at Sharpsburg, MD during the Civil War.
2. The 50 minute set on Sunday morning portrays my sharp-tongued mother recounting her experiences in a Jewish family in NYC during the Depression, pursuing higher education, joining the U.S. Women’s Army Corp, marrying an African American political activist and building a life – and family – together in Philadelphia during the height of the Red Scare.
Megan Hicks
1. For the past few years, most of my performing has been for adult audiences. My stories are personal history, family stories, American history (Civil War and World War II), fairy tales, and altered fairy tales.
2. For the Women’s Storytelling Festival, I will probably be telling personal history and possibly some stories my mother told me about growing up in the US during World War II. But I know I won’t be able to resist telling at least one fairy tale…
Roopa Mohan
1. I started out telling folktales and myths to school groups visiting the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Now, I enjoy playing with different genres for adult audiences as well, like personal narratives, historical portrayals and tall tales … often braiding my childhood memories and culture into them.
2. I am debuting 2 personal, braided narratives and a portrayal of a contemporary female artist who broke many barriers in the early 20th century in India.
Penelope Whitney
1. I tell racy stories for mixed audiences who are often (hopefully) tipsy.
2. My story for the virtual showcase is about revenge with a capital R! You’ll identify with my obsession, laugh at my stupidity- and feel better about life.
Stop by in a couple of days for our next peek at this year’s tellers! But don’t wait that long to get your tickets, here.
