Storyteller's Critique

Here's my Storyteller's Critique, it's Assignment 2 for this course.
Enjoy!

The performances I viewed were so unlike each other in audience and performance that I had three very different experiences. The first I saw was an evening performance of Eth-Noh-Tec, the team of two storytellers from San Francisco preformed five short folk tales from all over Asia. Despite it being part of the same festival and one of the same performers, the next story telling performance was as different as can be: Nancy Wang told just a portion of the story of her family’s immigration from China and acceptance (or lack there of) in the United States five generations ago. This performance was on a Saturday morning, and the audience was significantly older than the Friday night audience for Eth-Noh-Tec. The third performance I observed was video recording of Brian “Fox” Ellis performing a single story aimed at children ages 5-12. The live audience in the film was a class of second grade students, which required a different sort of storytelling than the audience of adults.

I bring up the audience first because, as Nancy Wang stated—in theater the 4th wall separate the audience from the performance, where in storytelling the 4th wall extends behind the audience, to include them in the excitement, and makes them part of the performance. The different ways the storytellers included their audience was intriguing to observe and participate in. For example the storytellers preformed age appropriate jokes, for the adult audience of Eth-Noh-Tec a passing remark on current events roused a chuckle, where Brain “Fox” Ellis lengthen out a moment in his story about what happens when water molecules leave the bladder for his second grade audience, and they went wild with delight.

Part of the excitement in the stories that I appreciated the most was the voices and characters that the storytellers gave life to. The folktales of Eth-Noh-Tec had a host of stock characters that were very distinct from each other with voice in pitch, speed, and timbre when these characters talked to each other (in the two person performance) it was instantly clear to see what sort of character we were dealing with. On her own, Nancy Wang used more subtle character voice, each character was still unique, but rather than calling attention to the characters voices allowed for the story to flow over them, to move the narration forward. Brian “Fox” Ellis had a story telling style much more akin to mine, with little to no dialogue between different characters, using instead pure narration: he still varied and used his differences in his voice, but he kept the story moving with pacing, speed, pauses, volume, and tone rather than dialogue.

On our class boards early in the term we discussed the pros and cons of memorizing your stories word for word, and in watching Eth-Noh-Tec I could see how beneficial memorization can be. There was poetry in the stories, and clear imagery through word choice. Memorizing the script also allows for planned mistakes as Brian “Fox” Ellis often used the phrase “Walter- I mean-Water” to keep the storyline in the mind of the audience while making a small tangent to other things. However, while memorizing a script lends itself to theatrical performances, they also shine a spot light on mistakes of stumbled words, and losing a place in the story. Memorizing the script may also cut down on the audience participation that can be achieved by taking the storyteller out of the moment and into a script.

Another fascinating part of the storytelling performances was how the storytellers used their bodies. There was everything from the choreographed dance in Eth-Noh-Tec, adding theatrical elements and grace to their stories, to the simple gestures of Nancy Wang that subtly added to the story, such as rocking her body to the waves, or gently pushing in an imaginary drawer, to the exaggerated action motions of Brain “Fox” Ellis as he kicked and ran a home run in a school yard kick-ball game. Each had their place in the story and was used to great effect.

Sound and music were also utilized in different ways by these story tellers. Eth-Noh-Tec used a variety of wind instruments to add back ground music, song, interlude, and sound effects to their tales, where Brian “Fox” Ellis, used only his voice to create a gulping of water or a suck of a tube. What was most effective in the stories was the way that sound effects and body movements could indicated a change in the story before the teller used words to describe it. It was like the audience gained a “sneak peak” at the next emotion they were going to feel before knowing why they were going to felt that way. It was really effective and I’d like to take that into my own storytelling.

In addition to using sound effects and body movements to enhance my story telling I’d also like to add music. Watching online clips of Pete Seeger, I am inspired to learn a stringed instrument, such as a guitar or ukulele to play while storytelling, and although I do not have the opportunity to master an instrument during this course, it will be something I will aim for to add in to my storytelling in the future. Just as inspiring, and something I can practice now, is taking techniques from Eth-Noh-Tec, Nancy Wang, and Brain “Fox” Ellis on how they warmed up the crowd, putting themselves and the audience at ease and taking away all self-consciousness so the stories can be experienced by all.

Storytellers and their Stories:

Eth-Noh-Tec presents: Of Sojourns and Shadows: Asian American Message In the Myth
Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo and Nancy Wang
Friday April 17 2009 at the Hillsboro Main Library. Presented in cooperation with WCCLS Hearing Voices Storytelling Festival.
Stories:
Trouble Talk—Korea—animals and humans brag over who is the most powerful until disaster strikes
The Long Haired Girl—China—girl sacrifices herself to help her village
Willow Tree—Japan—Man tires to save tree from being cut down
“Feed my Dog” –India—A god’s dog teaches a village the dangers of materialism
Monkey Moon—Tibet—rhyming tale of Monkey king who wants the reflection of the moon for his own


Lanterns on a Dark Moon Night: The History of Chinese Americans in Monterey
Nancy Wang
Saturday April 18 2009, at the Beaverton City Library. Presented in cooperation with WCCLS Hearing Voices Storytelling Festival.
Stories of her family coming from China, their children born in United States, and how they were accepted into and rejected form different aspects of American life


Ellis, Brian “Fox” (Performer). (2006). Walter the Water molecule’s exciting journey through the water cycle. The StoryWatchers Club: Adventures in Storytelling. Our planet. DVD.
Walter is a water molecule that travels through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, perspiration, and many other places.