PST to Host Traditional Story Slams

Traditional Story Slams for Teens and Adults

Have a favorite folk or fairytale you like to tell your kids? A soft spot for heros, evil kings, and talking animals? Want to dabble in the world of parables and fables? You're invited to participate in PST/massmouth, inc.'s monthly Traditional Story Slam. Each event, which will take place from 7-9pm at Puppet Showplace Theatre in Brookline, will feature seven story slammers and one featured storyteller. 




Slam guidelines include:

• 7-minute story limit
• content must be fictional and based in some tradition and the evening's theme.
• content cannot be from a literary work must be teller’s own words
• tellers may use props, costumes, and/or music
• tellers cannot use notes

Prizes for top storytellers (chosen by the audience) include a bag of magic beans, a magic wishing stone, and a small bale of hay. Additional prizes maybe added.

Traditional Story Slam Dates!

2012: Oct 18, Nov 15, Dec 20 from 7-9pm
2013: Jan 17, Feb 14, Mar 14 from 7-9pm

Tickets will be $8 online and $10 at the door.  

Story Slams

massmouth storyteller

The primary way in which massmouth promotes storytelling is through story slams. Similar to a poetry slam, a story slam is a competition based on the art of storytelling. At each event, interested slammers will submit their names to participate and the chosen few (the lucky eight to ten chosen at random from a box) get to tell their stories. Each participant will deliver a five-minute story (based on the event’s chosen theme), which will be scored by volunteer judges. The judges’ base their scores on presentation, structure, exploration of and connection to the slam’s theme, and time limit. 
Additionally, the story must be an original, real-life adventure with a beginning, middle, and end. The two highest-scoring tellers are awarded prizes and an opportunity to perform at the “the big mouthoff”

Through the 2012-2013 season, massmouth, inc. will offer three to four story slams a month at venues across the Greater Boston area. Upcoming story slams include themes such as “night owl,” “foodie,” and “betrayal.” The organization’s next event will take place on Saturday, September 29, from 3pm-6pm at the Rosebud Bar and Grill in Somerville, Mass. The event’s theme is “labels.”

For more information about massmouth, inc., check out their website.

Traditional Storytelling

Rumpelstiltskin

Where the massmouth/Puppet Showplace Theatre collaboration differs from usual story slams is the emphasis on traditional storytelling. Where massmouth events typically require stories to be first-person narrative based on lived experience, traditional stories must be based in fiction and borrowed from a traditional source.

These adults-only events are geared towards restoring the rawness and roughness and eliminating the “knee-slapping and feel good endings” of watered-down folk and fairytales. Contrary to fairytales of the Disney era, these stories should not provide tidy moral lessons.

Similarly, massmouth, inc. founder Norah Dooley warns participants to be wary of the term “adult.” According to Dooley, “‘adult’ [does] not mean simply tacking on promiscuity, gender issues and substance abuse one has created an "adult" tale… an adult tale is one that is complex, deep, and resonating enough to entertain and challenge even the most jaded grown up.”

For more information on traditional storytelling, check out Norah Dooley’s blog post on the subject.