Tuesday, Jan. 03, 2012

Tell us a story

In Wake Forest, they spin worlds out of words

On a storyteller’s chair in a storyteller’s bookshop on a Sunday not too long ago in Wake Forest, a small woman with a big smile spun worlds out of nothing, using only words.

Her name was Claire Ramsey, and she was not afraid, though most of her audience made worlds of their own for a living. Her tale was about a little boy who loved stories, and she knew her listeners understood that better than anything.

“If he could go away into the depths of a story,” Ramsey said, leaning forward and reaching out her hands, “he could find a place where he was not afraid of anything at all.”

Ramsey founded the Northern Wake Storytelling Circle in Wake Forest in 2008. It’s free and open to anyone, amateur or professional. And there’s always a spot for those who just want to listen.

The location is even conveniently marked so there’s no doubt of what you’ll find there: Storytellers Bookstore of Wake Forest.

The site of that sign will be changing in the next few weeks. Instead of its current location tucked away on East Roosevelt Street just before Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, the bookstore is moving in January to a storefront next to Wake Forest Coffee Company on South White Street.

That means you’ll want to call or email ahead for a location if you want to attend a storytelling circle this month. Or you can wait until the store reopens Feb. 1 and check in with store owner Drew Bridges.

At each meeting, anywhere from six to 60 tellers and listeners gather at the back of the bookshop in a circle of couches and folding chairs and an old-fashioned loom.

No one is required to tell a story, but anyone is welcome to. Stories can be fact or fiction, historic or present-day. Storytellers can ask for one of three levels of criticism, ranging from only the positive to no-holds-barred.

“There’s no right or wrong way to tell stories,” Bridges said.

“Except to keep your mouth shut and not tell them,” added Gale Buck, a professional storyteller and longtime member of the circle.

For their last meeting of 2011, Ramsey signaled the start of the session by waving a stuffed toy rabbit in a tuxedo – the rabbit served as that session’s “storytelling object,” meaning whoever holds it has the floor. Ramsey handed it to Christy Buck, who passed it to her husband and went back to her knitting.

Buck stood and strode to the center of the circle, smoothing his bushy white beard, making eye contact with each of his listeners before he began.

Buck specializes in Christmas stories, and that night, his audience was peppered with other professional storytellers.

There’s Ramsey, whose forte is folk tales, and Bridges, who often mines his western North Carolina roots for inspiration. Across the circle was Henry Vogel, who focuses on stories for children.

You’d think that telling a story to a roomful of professionals would be daunting.

You’d be wrong. Other storytellers know what you’re going through, standing up there alone with nothing but a passel of beautiful lies to enchant to life with only your voice, your face and your hands.

Storytellers react to a story faster, Buck said. And their emotions are invested before you begin – they want you to tell a good story so they can learn something.

Buck told the tale of the first-ever Christmas tree, grown soon after Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. It was a mix of realism and holiday magic. His audience was kind during critique, but seasoned storytellers like Buck don’t need to wait until the story is finishes to know whether they’ve pleased their audience. It’s all in the body language, facial expression and behavior.

“When you’re telling a story to a room full of second-graders, and they’re quiet? You’ve got it,” Vogel said.

After Buck is finished, the rest of the circle takes turns. There are Santa stories and philosophical stories and one about some of the most unusual Christmas presents ever given.

And then it’s time for Ramsey’s fairy tale, the one about the little boy who loves stories because they keep him from being afraid.

The adventure in her version doesn’t really begin until the little boy utters a certain four words to his mother.

“Tell me a story...”