What an honor to have been part of the year-end performance of Six Feet Apart Productions. Claire Hennessey and Regina Stoops have been a force for good in the midst of this social distancing. With all the in-person stages closed, Claire and Regina have created the best online venue I have seen for stories. Our performance last night hearkened back to the Halloween show, at which Simon Brooks told a riveting retelling of a RL Stevenson short story, the Stories in Black and White, at which Sheila Arnold spellbound everyone with a story about her son, and the evening of traditional stories, at which Tim Ereneta as usual stole the show with his pacing and expression. I told a story with Bil Lepp on Six Feet Apart Productions back in June.
Claire and Regina held an efficient and useful rehearsal just to make sure the performance ran like clockwork. And it did!
I was happy to be able to tell another new story. I have gotten a few new ones under my belt with these online events including the first story I told on Six Feet Apart Productions back in June about courting my wife, a story I told about a homeless Berkeley professor I told for the NSN Annual Conference Pacific Showcase, and now this story about leading a student trip to China. Another high point this year was to get to be on Claire Hennessey's podcast, The Bonkers Brit, for which I also prepared a new story about going into trance while doing research in Bali. I guess I didn't feel I had to fall back on my standard stories at these Zoom events, and I was willing to take more risk. I was also given much bigger time slots.
Last night was a roster of ten-minute stories, most of which focused on this year's pandemic. Corey Rosen told a touching story about taking a walk with his son. He also did a hilarious impromptu song about an audience member—Sara Armstrong! I am still not sure what instrument he was squeezing while singing at the top of his lungs about how Sara Armstrong deserves this song... etc. Simon told a great folktale about a "wee man," who granted a wish. Tim told an eerie story about a large, magical serpent who helps a fortune teller gain great wealth. Sheila started the evening with a touching story about a group of boys who zoom bombed her daily tributes to those who died from Covid. JP Frary and Kate Farrell were the two other tellers.
Well, this may be the last zoom event I do this year. While I miss the stage and the audience, there have been some things to be thankful for about zoom events such as taking more chances like I wrote about above. One thing for sure, I am thankful to Claire and Regina for keeping storytelling alive this year and for kindly including me in their great run of events.
Celebrate! The End of the Year is Almost Here! by Six Feet Apart Productions, December 5, 2020