Storytellers paint pictures for your mind
From a Harvard educated crooner to an award winning theater director and writer to an animated children's librarian.
Those are just some of the varied backgrounds and styles storytellers -- Willy Clafin, Megan Wells, and Mary Gay Ducey -- have to draw from when headlining Saturday's festival at Schaumburg's Prairie Center for the Arts.
The event opens at noon with a series of storytelling master classes that take place throughout the afternoon. An adult concert featuring all three of the main artists begins at 8 p.m.
Lucinda Flodin, development coordinator for the Prairie Center, puts together the festival each year. A storyteller herself, she says the tellers gathered for this year's event are nationally known.
"The opportunity to experience all three during the evening concert is really exciting," Flodin says. "Each is so unique and accomplished in their work, and to see each of their different styles during one event, will be amazing.
"I know we'll laugh a lot," she adds, "and our hearts will be touched."
The master classes during the afternoon offer insight into the tellers' different styles and strengths.
Clafin's use of parody in fractured fairy tales, comes out in the opening class starting at noon, called "Gargantuan Turquoise Stomping Boots."
In it, Clafin draws from his vast experience as a performer, including headlining the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenn., to lead the class.
He brings his classical training in literature from Harvard, as well as his love of stories and ballads collected while studying in Scotland, to the class.
At 2 p.m. Wells will lead a "Creativity Playshop," during which she promises to unleash participants' imaginations with various creativity games. They include: "Twister -- Escape an Ordinary Story," "Behind the Curtain -- Animating 3-D Characters," and "Ruby Slippers -- Clicking Images that Travel."
Wells brings her extensive background in theater and writing to the role of storyteller. She won a Jeff Award for directing, as well as awards for her original writing. She knows how to develop -- and perform -- stories that resonate with audiences.
Ducey leads the 4 p.m. workshop, called "Two Part Harmony: Using Songs in Stories." No vocal training is needed for this class aimed at covering how to choose effective songs to enhance stories.
While Ducey performs everything from traditional tales to world folklore, her background includes working as a children's librarian in Oakland, Calif., as well as co-directing the Bay Area Storytelling Festival, the oldest one in California.
Prairie Center officials say the festival draws storytelling fans, of all ages, and from all backgrounds.
"The diversity of the tellers and their stories, appeals to an equally diverse crowd," says Rob Pileckis, production supervisor at the Prairie Center. "It's always nice to see new fans drawn to the art form, as well as the die-hards."
Flodin agrees, adding the mission of the festival is to expose more people to the unique art form.
"As story artists, the storytellers transform the whole audience into the common experience," Flodin says. "It just makes our hearts feel good to hear a good story."
If you go
What: Storytelling at the Prairie Center
When: On Saturday, master classes at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. A concert for adults begins at 8 p.m. featuring three nationally known storytellers
Where: Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court, Schaumburg
Cost: $30 for one workshop, $10 for additional; $22 for adult concert or $20 for students and seniors
More information: Call (847) 895-3600 or visit prairiecenter.org