The WYO Theater is hosting Tellabration! on Saturday, Nov. 19, which includes eight storytellers talking on different topics. This is the first time that the event is taking place in Sheridan. The event is part of the National Storytelling Network. While it’s taking place in Sheridan it will also be happening all over the country and worldwide.
“They span [the stories] lots of different genres and lots of different categories and tones," said Grace Cannon, Lead Teaching Artist at the WYO Performing Arts and Education Center. "We have some funny stories, we have some dramatic stories, personal stories, [and] local history.”
Each story will be approximately 10 minutes in length. They include seasoned storytellers Michelle King, David Romtvedt, David Sage, Val Burgess, Cathy Ringer, and Byron Grey, in addition to newcomers James Grant and Lindsey Buckley.
"We did an open call for storytellers in our region, in and around Sheridan, which can expand pretty far actually, so we have people from Sheridan, Buffalo, Dayton, we have someone from Clark, Wyoming coming over the mountains [in addition to] Casper,” Cannon said.
Tellabration! has been offered nationwide for years and even internationally. Cannon hopes there’s interest in the community so events like this can be offered more regularly.
“When I've had the opportunity to be in the room and meet with the storytellers, it's a really wonderful feeling to be sitting around in a circle hearing all these different kinds of stories,” she said. “I'm really excited for the audience to experience this this Saturday. It's an old tradition, it's kind of what it all goes back to, all of our forms of entertainment go back to this simple act of sitting around and telling stories.”
Admission is by suggested donation, the proceeds of which will go towards future storytelling events at the WYO Theater.
“We want people to be able to come in and connect through stories,” she said.
The event begins at 7 p.m.
