Welcome to Telling Tales: Tradition/Transition, a new audio series that gives performance storytellers of colour in Scotland a space to discuss their craft on their own terms.
Oral storytelling is an ancient, enduring art form that far predates the development of written language. It was (and still is) how people shared and passed down the folktales, myths, epics, and histories that held significance for their societies. From griots reciting the chronicles of royal dynasties, to mothers comforting daughters through hours of toil at the loom, to wandering teachers imparting spiritual wisdom, to secret knowledge reserved for rites of passage, to warnings whispered to rambunctious children about creatures lurking in the woods – oral tradition plays an integral part in how we construe our humanity.
One of the many forms this tradition takes today is performance storytelling. Sometimes performance storytelling incorporates aspects of theatre, live music, and/or other multimedia technology. Other times it’s as simple as a person recounting stories with nothing but a chair to sit on and a water bottle for hydration. But in any case, the defining features of performance storytelling are that the stories are told to from memory, not read aloud. In this way the oral traditions of those who came before find new life for contemporary audiences.
Our Telling Tales: Tradition/Transition series explores how BPOC performance storytellers in Scotland navigate these creative landscapes. Hosted by Kelly Kanayama, performance storyteller and SBWN’s Editorial Manager, each episode features a different storyteller delving into their relationship to folklore, sharing their process and experiences, and inviting listeners into the wonderful world of storytelling.