Debut: The Fusion of Storytelling and Play January

Debut is a fusion of storytelling, story making, play, coaching, and community. Three professional storytellers will tell a story that they are debuting. This month, the talented storytellers are Andy Offutt Irwin, Oni Lasana, and Judi Tarowsky.   The story they tell has never been told in public.

We believe that the first telling can be a wonderful shared experience. The motto is "There is beauty in the beginning." This is the beginning of each tellers’ stories. However, it is told with the skill of a professional storyteller so it bound to be inviting.

Then, Story Coach (Mediator) Dr. Kevin Cordi, author of Playing with Stories: Story Crafting for Writers, Teachers, and Other Imaginative Thinkers will lead these storytellers as they play with this new story.  Kevin will use proven playful practices and audience members will experience new ways they could work with their own stories.

A Little Bit About the Tellers:

Andy Offutt Irwin:

With a manic, Silly Putty voice, astonishing mouth noises, and heart-filled stories, Andy Offutt Irwin is equal parts mischievous schoolboy and the Marx Brothers, peppered with a touch of the Southern balladeer. He has been a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival ten times and is a perennial favorite at the International Storytelling Center’s Teller-in-Residence Series.   

A storyteller, theatre director, singer-songwriter, and Shakespearean actor, Andy was Artist-in-Residence at Emory University’s Oxford College from 1991 to 2007.  He has performed at LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in New York, The Library of Congress, Walt Disney World, and a whole mess of theatres, colleges, and festivals all over the United States. Andy lives in Covington, Georgia. He thinks he is funny.

Oni Lasana

Oni Lasana (oh-knee) was born a poet and storyteller in Philadelphia, PA.  A performing and teaching artist, short story author, musician, and cultural consultant. Based in a small town near Amish country her roots reach back to Africa, France, South Carolina, and the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. She is the "snowbird" storyteller in residence at the Tobago Library Services on the island of Tobago. Oni is also known as the female “Voice of Dunbar'' bringing to life the prose of Paul Laurence Dunbar in theater and workshops. Presently, Oni is producing, writing, and hosting Aunti Oni Story Village, a podcast and the host of Story Village Live! a monthly virtual international adventure in storytelling for families. Check her out @ www.OniLasana.com

Judi Tarowsky

She graduated from West Virginia University and worked for newspapers in the Upper Ohio Valley. She is a member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild. Judi writes and performs historical pieces and tall tales. She also presents original family stories, old fairy tales, Celtic tales, ghost stories, and traditional folk tales. 

We hope people can join us for the novel event of performance and play. Ticket holders will be sent an email 3 hours prior to the event with login information.

The event is a fusion of storytelling and play. The attendees will have the honor of being the first audience of these tales. Proceeds from this event helps the event and the tellers.