“Brian Rohr Celebrates Last Storynight as Host; Marc Weinblatt Tells Tales”
First Friday Storynight at BLTC
Dec 6, 2013 – 7-9pm
Better Living Through Coffee
100 Tyler St., Port Townsend, WA 98368
$10 Suggested Donation; no one turned away
Though the stories often teach us that each ending is in fact a new beginning, they also teach us the importance of recognizing and celebrating the endings themselves. In this spirit, the Mythsinger Foundation and host Brian Rohr, invite you to come celebrate a grand ending, for on Friday, Dec 6th, Rohr will be hosting his last First Friday Storynight after four years.
“It is with both sadness and excitement that I inform the Port Townsend community that my wife and I will be moving down to Portland, OR in January.” shares Rohr.
Begun by Rohr in Nov 2009 at Better Living Through Coffee, the monthly First Friday Storynight explores the art and ritual of the oral tradition: sharing the old myths, folk tales, and fairy tales along with more modern stories and personal sharings. Each month, there are two to three featured tellers, and space for guests in the audience to share a story or two during the open mic sections.
“For those who love this event, don’t be worried,” Rohr explains, “Storynight will live on. I am please to announce this monthly tradition will be handed over to a local favorite, musician and storyteller Aimée Ringle, who will begin hosting in the new year.”
Joining Rohr on the stage this month as the featured teller will be renown teacher, theater activist and director Marc Weinblatt who will bring playful and potent stories to the evening to make us laugh while also thinking about the world we live in. Amongst the stories he will share are ‘The Cannibal King’ from the Hausa, African tradition and ‘The Hairy Toe’ from the Southern United States. He will also share a tale from the Jewish tradition in honor of the Jewish holiday of Chanukah.
As always, Rohr will offer his magical tellings, sharing the old stories – the myths, folktales and fairytales – of long ago, while utilizing the drum to create a percussive trance state for the listener.
As is the tradition, there will also be an open mic section, so please bring your own short story, song, dance, poem or some other performative form to share… only rules are it must obviously be a story and no reading, everything must be shared in the ways of the oral tradition.
About the Artists:
Marc Weinblatt has been a professional educator, theatre artist, activist, and workshop facilitator since 1980 having extensive experience with both adults and youth. He’s an internationally recognized leader in the use of Augusto Boal’s renowned ‘Theater of the Oppressed’ and has worked with diverse communities ranging from police to homeless youth, grassroots organizers and laborers to academics. Globally, Marc has worked with activists in Norway, Holland, and Canada, refugees in Azerbaijan, ex-combatants in Northern Ireland, construction workers in South Africa, slum families in India, actors in the Republic of Congo, and victims of war, among others, in Afghanistan. He was recently named “Cultural Envoy” by the U.S. State Department for his work in the Congo in spring 2010.
Marc is founder/director of the PT based Mandala Center for Change as well as the Poetic Justice Theatre Ensemble, a local team of actor/activists that does local interactive theatre performances on burning community issues. Weinblatt has directed many local theatre productions for the PT School District K-12th grade OCEAN program as well as Key City Public Theatre. He is a former featured reader at the PT Library “Storytime” sessions and has told stories at several library holiday events. More can be found at: www.mandalaforchange.com
Brian Rohr is a storyteller and healer living here in Port Townsend, WA. Having moved from Chicago in 2007 to study with local master Storyteller Daniel Deardorff, he has since shared myth from different cultures to national and international audiences.
Locally, Rohr first began hosting a bi-monthly Storynight at the Boiler Room in 2009, before moving it to its present monthly format at Better Living Through Coffee for the past 4 years. Rohr was recently honored by JT News as a “10 Under 40” recipient for 2013 by being chosen as one of 10 Jewish people in Washington State under 40 years old who are doing inspirational works within the community. He is an active Board Member of the Mythsinger Foundation and is convinced of the life and vitality inherent in the old stories and their ability to inform us on how to live our lives as authentic human beings.
Visit the Facebook Event Page Here
First Friday Storynight is supported by the Port Townsend Arts Commission.
BLTC is a family owned and operated coffee house located in Downtown Port Townsend.