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Storytelling festival has
unique tales to share
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WHETHER IT'S a father recounting small-kid-time adventures while tucking his kids into bed, that one "Portagee" uncle telling tall tales during the family's weekend potluck, or a professional speaking in front of hundreds, there's usually a moment when the storyteller realizes he has his audience's undivided attention.
"I've watched thousands of hours of storytelling," said Jeff Gere, a drama specialist with the city's Department of Parks and Recreation and founder/director of this weekend's annual Talk Story Festival. "The basic, fundamental truth is that the audience starts to hallucinate."
Unlike most other forms of entertainment today, storytelling transforms an audience from passive observers to active participants with the human voice.
"It's not like just being talked to," Gere said. "The person in front is half the show, but you're providing the other half ... the imagination is creating with the words."
NOW ENTERING its 16th year, the Talk Story Festival is a showcase of the best storytellers Hawaii has to offer. Two years after taking his Department of Parks and Recreation job in 1987, Gere realized that local residents didn't always have the opportunity to come together and interact.
"There were so many stories, so many people from so many places with tales to tell," he said. "And they didn't have a venue where they could talk to each other, so I (decided) ... to create one."
For the first 10 years, the festival operated without any financial support from the city, relying on corporate sponsorship for basic expenses and word of mouth for promotion.
These days, although the city provides a small amount of financial support, Gere still counts on the generosity of local businesses and the willingness of island residents to tell friends about the event.
"This is one of those things that seems to be grass roots enough that the corporations kick in something, and the city gives me a little," he said. "And then I try to pull in people who have a unique voice or an unusual story to tell."
ONE OF those unique voices belongs to Alton Chung, a former Hawaii resident now living in Portland, Ore., and working at Hewlett Packard as a sales information manager.
"To go and have an opportunity to tell stories to adults (is) lots of fun for me," he says. "It keeps me sane!"
Chung was originally bitten by the storytelling bug in 1997, when he took an introductory class at a bookstore in Oregon. Although the teacher noticed his talent right away, it took another five years before he started performing regularly.
"It's definitely a passion," said Chung. "Coming back to Hawaii and telling stories is a major treat for me (because) it's where I'm from, it's where I grew up."
After making his debut at the Talk Story Festival last year, Gere invited him to come back this year. He'll share stories tonight and Sunday.
Other storytellers performing for the first time this weekend include Deborah Piscusa Foy and Lee Siegel. Foy will discuss her collection of carved Micronesian storyboards and plans to "bring her whole wall over" to McCoy Pavilion.
Siegel, an author and professor at UH, is another source of excitement for Gere.
"I can't wait to see what he does," said Gere. "He's written five books (and) lived with itinerant magicians in India.
"As wide as it can get, if it's story-based and it's good entertainment, then I'm into it."
IN ADDITION TO THE three nights of performances, Gere also plans to present the third Tusitala Award to Clyde "Kindy" Sproat tomorrow night and will host a free storytelling workshop on Sunday afternoon.
Because admission to the festival is free, he's only worried about getting audiences to actually walk into McCoy Pavilion, because once you're there, you're hooked.
"Guaranteed, if you put your head in the door and sit down, you will be moved," said Gere. "You're going to laugh; you're going to really feel things; you're going to be challenged to think about how other people are.
"The neighborhood will get smaller; you'll be in a community of people who you feel comfortable with because you shared a lot in a short period of time; and you're going to walk home and the world will be just a little different."
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