When presenter Lisa Evans gave her opening Acknowledgement to Country by reminding us that not only were we on Noongar land, but that the First Nations people are renowned storytellers themselves, it reminded me how much we all love to simply listen to a good story.
“Stories From the Heart” was a beautiful afternoon of seven joyful, authentic people telling an enthralled audience a true story of their lives. They told these stories with gusto. With lively expression. With clarity and animated faces. Reliving the happiness, the anxiety, the terror, the awfulness, and the hilarity they have faced in this one memory. Everyone’s lives are full of moments that we will never forget, and we all tell our own stories to our own people. These stories all had a loose theme of ‘Lost and Found’ to link them together.
There were lost dogs, lost sunglasses, lost fathers, and found adventures, found sisters, found spaces, and even found sperm. (‘The Donor’ a sperm story by Nick Mortimer was a definite highlight by this multi-talented chap!)
I loved that we were in the plain function room of the Rubix Bar, cleverly converted (by Nick Mortimer, told you he was talented) into a precious little theatre space. Then, through the charismatic use of one person’s voice at a time, we went on a myriad of journeys. As avid dog lovers my daughter and I were thrilled with the happy ending of David Forbes’ story ‘A Spot of Bother,’ and vicariously lived through the grossness of his dalmatian’s incontinence. We felt the anxiety of David Lewis’ scary hunt for his lost, forgetful father in the night. Anastasia Carlson’s retelling of a rowdy disco adventure in Venice made for a madcap and spirited last story.
On the way home I was inspired by the heart-warming and charming “Stories From the Heart” to tell my daughter a story of my own. We chuckled and bonded over this memory. That’s the power of storytelling, it creates a community bond, by offering a little bit of yourself to others. These warm, honest storytellers made a community out of a random bunch of strangers for an afternoon. Get yourself to this show.