As a part of its free online fall 2020 programming, the Belfry Theatre is presenting the community storytelling initiative The Flame, which is hosted by Deborah Williams and Michelle Poirier Brown, and features stories told by people in the local Victoria community.
Williams is no stranger to storytelling: she founded the theatre group Mom’s the Word over a decade ago in Vancouver, out of a desire to bring people together to share stories of their own humanity.
“I just thought it would be really great to hear my neighbourhood stories, so we invited some people over and said, ‘Here’s some wine and cheese and all you have to do is bring a story,’” she says. “Even though [they were all] performers, they were terrified, but after everyone told their story they went away going, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got another one; oh, I want to do this again!’”
The main objective of The Flame is to increase the sense of connection between people in a community, and to draw out some of the stories that make people unique and define the human experience.
“I really believe in the power of storytelling,” says Williams. “I’ve watched people over the years, and once they’ve shared their story and gotten over the terror of standing in front of a group of apparent strangers—once you’ve told your story [or] heard someone’s personal story, you can never go back, and you have a relationship with them.”
Williams says that a storytelling class she taught through the Belfry was very effective in uniting random people as friends and neighbours.
“There were 10 people and everybody went away going, ‘Oh, I’ve got a community, I want to tell stories with you forever,’” she says. “It’s really about that connection; it’s a really great thing to be able to watch people connect like that and want to continue that relationship.”
Each iteration of The Flame is themed differently. The upcoming performance will feature the people who work backstage in theatre, bringing it to life. Williams says that while playgoers are naturally focused on the main production happening onstage, there are a lot of talented people working invisibly to make the show happen, and they deserve a spotlight, too.
“We’re not there alone, we’ve got this huge hammock holding us up, the playwright and the director and the designer, and so it’s really great to publicly acknowledge those people,” she says. “It’s really great to be able to get them onstage and be able to thank them and hear about their experiences, as well.”
The show will feature five set, lighting, and costume designers from Canada’s theatre industry: Pam Johnson, Carmen Alatorre, Alan Brodie, Andy Moro, and Itai Erdal. Williams says that while some of the stories are likely to be themed around the behind-the-scenes life in theatre, the main goal is simply to allow the participants to tell their own stories from any part of their lives.
“I think probably some of them will [focus on theatre],” she says, “but I think that with these particular stories it’s what else they do besides theatre, [it’s what] they have in their lives that are bigger.”
Williams says that the most important thing about storytelling is to treat each story as a gift to the world.
“You’re giving it away, you’re sharing it,” she says. “You’re not trying to teach someone something, you’re not trying to preach or boast or any of those things—just know why you’re telling the story and just give it away.”
The Flame
7 pm Wednesday, November 25
Free, online
belfry.bc.ca
NOTE: This article has been updated to give the names of the designers in the show.
Who are the storytellers? Weird omission from this story about a show that showcases the behind the scenes talent.