The Storytelling Stars Showcase at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre last Sunday was touching, humorous and sometimes disturbing. The stories had meat — the way a good story should.
David Roche was organizer and prime teller of tales — he makes his living as a writer and performer by mining vignettes of his life. The stories from five performers were linked by the theme of family.
Micheal Oswald (who writes under the name of Micheal Mann) is a Special Olympics athlete, author, columnist and now a storyteller.
Born a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome baby, he coped with problems of memory and coordination, among other issues. After being placed in foster homes in Ontario, he was befriended by a special needs teacher, Helen Halett. When she asked to foster him, he whooped with joy. Though the path was fraught with difficulties — a brief time with his birth mother and subsequent descent into alcohol and drugs — Halett helped him through and continues to offer emotional support to this day. His story of survival swept away audience inhibitions, and they gave him a tearful standing ovation.
Gerry Hills finally met her Aunt Pearl. Her mother and her sister were separated by the Catholic Children’s Aid in 1936 and the aunt grew up always wanting to find her family. But it was Hills who set out to search for her aunt, and she described the tears, the laughter and the road trip with her long-lost relative. Along the way, she found that she had Cree heritage from one side of the family.
Gayle MacDonald had a similar story titled A Little Bit Indian, a tale of healing her inner child. Growing up in Manitoba, she never knew how much First Nation she had in her. She looked more Indian than her red-headed brothers and sisters, and she was in denial about her roots. Finding their source and receiving her Native name was a powerful experience for her.
In honour of the Métis theme, Ted MacDonald played a few Métis and Irish fiddle tunes.
Marlena Blavin’s Jewish family background was certainly different from the others.
She described visiting her aging mother to surprise her on her birthday. When she entered the family home, she was overwhelmed with nostalgia — none of the furniture, the décor or the two big refrigerators had changed in 33 years. Blavin has much of the performance artist in her and acted out her story of the clash between the teenager and the doting Jewish mother.
Roche followed his wife’s story by describing his visit to Blavin’s parental house in a humorous piece, The Angel of Frozen Time.
His own family dynamics were more distanced. His mom had a full-time job out of the home, and an adult Roche seldom had contact with his dad. By contrast, Blavin’s family was smotheringly close. Roche’s story asked a question that many boomers are asking — are we becoming our parents? Roche and Blavin bicker like her parents did before her. Maybe it’s the key to a successful marriage?
Half the funds after expenses raised from the Showcase evening went to Sunshine Coast Hospice Society. Hospice co-ordinator Deb Gleason spoke about “the incredible heart-based services” that Hospice provides on the Coast, whether as respite for care-giving families, sitting with the dying or giving support for bereavement.
