Debut is a fusion of storytelling, story
making, play, coaching, and community. Three professional storytellers will
tell a story that they are debuting. This month, the talented storytellers
are Andy Offutt Irwin, Oni Lasana, and Judi Tarowsky. The
story they tell has never been told in public.
We believe that the first telling can be
a wonderful shared experience. The motto is "There is beauty in the
beginning." This is the beginning of each tellers’
stories. However, it is told with the skill of a professional storyteller
so it bound to be inviting.
Then, Story Coach (Mediator) Dr.
Kevin Cordi, author of Playing with Stories: Story Crafting for
Writers, Teachers, and Other Imaginative Thinkers will lead these
storytellers as they play with this new story. Kevin will use proven
playful practices and audience members will experience new ways they could work
with their own stories.
A Little Bit About the Tellers:
Andy Offutt Irwin:
With
a manic, Silly Putty voice, astonishing mouth noises, and heart-filled stories,
Andy Offutt Irwin is equal parts mischievous schoolboy and the Marx Brothers,
peppered with a touch of the Southern balladeer. He has been a Featured Teller
at the National Storytelling Festival ten times and is a perennial favorite at
the International Storytelling Center’s Teller-in-Residence Series.
A
storyteller, theatre director, singer-songwriter, and Shakespearean actor, Andy
was Artist-in-Residence at Emory University’s Oxford
College from 1991 to 2007. He has performed at LaGuardia High School of
Performing Arts in New York, The Library of Congress, Walt Disney World, and a
whole mess of theatres, colleges, and festivals all over the United States. Andy
lives in Covington, Georgia. He thinks he is funny.
Oni
Lasana
Oni Lasana
(oh-knee) was born a poet and storyteller in Philadelphia, PA. A
performing and teaching artist, short story author, musician, and cultural
consultant. Based in a small town near Amish country her roots reach back to
Africa, France, South Carolina, and the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. She is
the "snowbird" storyteller in residence at the Tobago Library
Services on the island of Tobago. Oni is also known as the female “Voice of
Dunbar'' bringing to life the prose of Paul Laurence Dunbar in theater and workshops.
Presently, Oni is producing, writing, and hosting Aunti Oni Story Village, a
podcast and the host of Story Village Live! a monthly virtual international
adventure in storytelling for families. Check her out @ www.OniLasana.com
Judi Tarowsky
She graduated
from West Virginia University and worked for newspapers in the Upper Ohio
Valley. She is a member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild. Judi writes
and performs historical pieces and tall tales. She also presents original
family stories, old fairy tales, Celtic tales, ghost stories, and traditional
folk tales.
We hope people
can join us for the novel event of performance and play. Ticket holders
will be sent an email 3 hours prior to the event with login information.
The event is a
fusion of storytelling and play. The attendees will have the honor of being the
first audience of these tales. Proceeds from this event helps the event and the
tellers.
