[This post has been published to the
past using blogger's scheduling feature]
I was able, with several of my fellow
classmates, to make the trek to Jonesborough to hear the storytelling
guild. I must admit to having mixed reactions to the tellers
themselves, not just the storiest that they told.
The first story was an audition to join
the guild, told by an Ashevillian. I don't know if I spelled this
correctly, but auto-correct wants to change it to Vaudevillian
(Brandon would approve). The story was an adaptation of Han Christian
Andersen's “The Happy Family.”
The second was a future-story,
detailing the yet-to-be-taken trip the Jonesborough Storytelling
Guild will be taking to St. Louis. This story began humorously
enough, but turned into an appeal for money (after I had already
given my $3 at the door).
Bill Lepp rounded out the first half of
the show. I will reserve my comments about Bill until tomorrow's
master class with him.
Finally, the featured teller was Judge
Isaac Freeman. He was funny, but very tied to a geography,
particularly certain Elizabethton and West Virginia families. The
good is he knows his audience. The bad is that I think I missed
something.
Overall the experience left me with
mixed feelings. How do I put this in the nicest way? The wildly
varying abilities of the tellers showcased at the Jonesborough
Storytelling Guild meeting give me some comfort in my own abilities,
but also some reservations about the future of our art.
This is coupled with the reality that
this community is – as a rector friend of puts it – one good
influenza outbreak away from being no more.
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