Students in Nathaniel Niemi’s Storytelling Lab at the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center wrote about a time when their journeys came full circle.
Recently, students reflected on what they discovered during the five-week course, bringing the program full circle.
This involved using various prompts, exercises and editing to write stories, as well as restructuring and finessing their best stories.
“This group of students has blown me away with their enthusiasm, vulnerability and hard work,” said Niemi, who is the resident director and director of education of The Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol. “They are a joy to work with, and I can’t wait to do it again.”
Students created underdog stories in which a character beats the odds and triumphs against adversity. They also penned about full-circle stories, in which a pivotal point in their life (or the lives of their characters) was brought full circle, according to Niemi.
He went on to say that some of the stories were about himself — “‘I am this way,’ and then we prove it through a story. Many are writing from their childhood experiences or times in their lives that required perseverance, where they learned something profound.”
Marybeth Grant, of the Village of Buttonwood, is one of the students.
“I have always taken joy in telling stories,” Grant said. “People ask me to tell stories. I always knew that there were techniques of storytelling that would make a story clearer and more interesting. Nathaniel provided the information and the support to become a better storyteller.”
Grant’s goal when she arrived in Switzerland was to learn everything she could about Swiss life, from how people communicated to what they ate. She discovered something unanticipated about herself.
“That insight is with me today,” she said.
It’s also the focus of her story, which she’ll deliver in front of an audience alongside the other children and their stories during a final presentation.
“(I enjoyed) being surrounded by a group with a common goal: to learn how to be better storytellers, being in an environment where you were supported in growing in the craft of storytelling, and being given the space to tell your story and then being offered ways to tell it even better.”
Classes for the fall are now being scheduled at The Studio and The Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center, and will most likely include acting and storytelling. Visit thesharon.com and click the “Academy” link at the top to discover more about upcoming classes.