NAMRON Players Theatre announces its Storytelling Workshop Series, YourStory, for the Autumn of 2019. The series will consist of three workshops, September through November, as a part of its documentary theatre project, Lunch Box. The workshops will all be presented at the Norman Public Library East, 3051 Alameda, Norman.
“The YourStory workshop series are designed to get participants talking about and telling their own stories.” Sheryl Martin, Artistic Executive Director of NAMRON Players Theatre said,“We hope the telling of their stories in these workshops will be the beginning of the process of some of their stories finding their way into our final production of Lunch Box in the Spring.”
Participation in the YourStory Series is open to the public and admission free, thanks to grants from the Norman Arts Council and Oklahoma Arts Council.
The workshops to be presented in the YourStory Series will be:
YourStory I—Write Out Loud, Saturday, September 21, 11am-1pm.
This workshop explores the written word to find stories that want to be told out loud. Storyteller and poet Shaun Perkins blends poetry, stories, and creative writing to help you develop your oral storytelling skills. The workshop will include several exercises designed to promote creative thinking and generate ideas, along with discovering ways to structure a story for an audience. Saturday, 9/21 11am-1pm in the Community Room at Norman Public Library East
Shaun Perkins is the founder/director of the Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry in Locust Grove and the webmaster/liaison for Oklahoma’s state storytelling organization the Territory Tellers. She is a Teaching Artist with the Oklahoma Arts Council, former Teacher of the Year, poet, newspaper columnist and rummage store owner. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree in liberal studies from the University of Oklahoma.
For more information about her work, visit journeyinwords.org or ROMPoetry.com
YourStory II—Powered by Improv, Thursday, October 10, 6:30-8:30pm
Participants will discover the power of “Yes, and…” Sue Ellen Reiman and J. Shane McClure will help participants discover how improv games and techniques can enhance storytelling skills. Sue Ellen is Managing Director of OKC Improv and half of the improv duo, The Grown Ups. Shane is an OKC actor, director and writer, as well as a regular performer with Everybody and Their Dog and The Artful Codgers improv companies. Thursday, 10/10 6:30-8:30pm in the Community Room at Norman Public Library East
YourStory III—Timeless Tales and Brand New Stories, Saturday, November 16, 10am-12pm
Find a new story in an old favorite. Ms. Dwe Wiliams is the Founder and Director of Rhythmically Speaking, and one of Oklahoma’s most in-demand professional storytellers. In this workshop, she discusses familiar and not-so-familiar fairytales, folktales, and legends. Participants should be ready to share and delve into your own favorite tale. Saturday, 11/16 10am-12pm in the Community Room at Norman Public Library East
All of the performance and teaching artists presenting these workshops are on the Oklahoma Arts Council Performing and Teaching Artists Roster. NAMRON Players Theatre is a Norman nonprofit theatre company dedicated to presenting the original works of Oklahoma literary and performing artists. Most recently, NAMRON presented its 8th Annual 24 Hour Plays to a packed house at The Depot in downtown Norman. The YourStory Series is a part of NAMRON’s year-long Oklahoma StoryWorks Project, Lunch Box. Lunch Box is NAMRON's newest entry in this documentary theatre project which creates a new play with the stories of Norman and Oklahoma residents. It is modeled on the successful, independent theatre production Potluck, which presented the food stories of Norman residents at The Depot in June 2018.
Potluck was the result of a Mid-America Arts Alliance Artistic Innovations Award to Norman theatre artist, Sheryl Martin. Ms. Martin, currently the Artistic and Executive Director of NAMRON Players Theatre, plans to create a new documentary play each season as the Oklahoma StoryWorks Project continues. "Themes may change," Ms. Martin said,"but the process will always be the same. We want to listen to Norman's stories, to Oklahoma's stories, and put those stories onstage."
NAMRON Players Theatre and the Oklahoma StoryWorks Project: Lunch Box are made possible through the generous support of the Norman Arts Council / Arts Projects Grant Program, the Oklahoma Arts Council Project Assistance Small Grant Program, Republic Bank & Trust, 2x4 Productions, David Slemmons and the Friends of NAMRON / Oklahoma StoryWorks.