Before the Family Folklore Foundation (FFF) brings its recent storytelling project to fruition this month, participants are preparing in various ways.
Their upcoming show, “Shoreline Stories from the Heart” is a collaboration of the FFF executive director Meg DeMakas and Roger Batton, founder and executive director of Indigan Storyteller. The latter offered a recent workshop for one dozen students at The Stage in Miller Beach.
“The casual sharing of stories with one person is easy and natural,” Batton said. “Telling a personal story on stage as, ‘performance art’ before a live audience requires craft to be effective.”
He added that learning the craft element of storytelling allows a person to make decisions and reassemble their story in an artistic way and bring it to life in the minds of their audience; telling a personal story from your life is an adventure in discovery.
The daylong event included 12 parts, such as discussing the who, what, where, when, and why; the three layers of a story: our waking internal narrative, the world we’re born into, and our family and community; story content and structure; with much in between.
Breakout sessions paired participants while they drafted and performed their stories.
Gabe Comegys, 13, of Portage, has appeared in many FFF shows during the three years he has been a member of the group. He was at the workshop at the suggestion of his dad Chris, who also participated.
“It sounded like fun,” Gabe Comegys said, as he went over the handouts. “I’m sure this will help me.”
Chris Comegys echoed those thoughts.
“I can get off on tangents when I tell my stories,” he said. “I’m hoping to stay on task, and this workshop may help me do that.”
English teacher and small business owner Miranda Morley of Chesterton previously attended two of Batton’s workshops, and was looking forward to this third one.
“I’ve always learned something new (from Roger),” she said. “As a writer, my stories were way too long. I recorded myself and learned to practice out loud.”
Family Folklore Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit organization located in Northwest Indiana.
“Our mission is to learn about the world and share it with our community,” DeMakas said. “We are seeking to educate people of all ages about the world via multimedia and experiential learning.”
Opportunities are offered to inter-generational community members using literacy and problem-solving strategies to make the world a better place, she added.
Previous projects of FFF have included various radio plays presented in northwest Indiana, a Readers Theater and field trips, among others. For more information, call (219) 616-7299 or visit online at www.famfolkfound.org.
Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
If you go
What: “Shoreline Stories from the Heart”
When: 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: The Stage, 925 N. Shelby St., Gary
Tickets: $7 at the door. Children under 12 free.