Basement Fest!

TRUE STORIES OUT LOUD

proudly presents an arts alternative to the RWC

Presented as part of Basement Fest 2011 True Stories Out Loud is a live story telling event where people you may know, and others you would never otherwise have heard of, get up and tell a true story that’s no longer than 10 minutes and inspired by a cast of ever changing themes.

There are no notes and no props, which means no script, no photos or videos, slideshows, projectors or music. But trust us, words do suffice. They can be funny, moving, inspiring, humanising, devious and strange. They are our stories, they are us listening to each other; they are little bits of the sum of us shared with complete strangers.

This special series, specifically designed as part of the Rugby World Cup alternative arts festival The Basement Fest, has stories on Family, Rebellion & Love by the likes of:

MICHAEL HURST * JACINDA ARDERN * MORGANA O’REILLY *
TIM LAMBOURNE* CHRIS MOLLOY * VENUS STEPHENS *
ROSE MATAFEO * ANNA FAY * JOSEPH HARPER *
GRAE BURTON * ARTHUR MEEK * JESSE MULLIGAN *  NIC SAMPSON*
LOUISE TU’U * JAMES LITTLEWOOD* HEIDI SHIRA TANNENBAUM*
with more confirmations on the way…

OCTOBER 8^th stories on FAMILY
 OCTOBER 15^th stories on REBELLION
OCTOBER 22^nd stories on LOVE

All start at 5pm and go for roughly an hour.

Please visit iticket to purchase tickets, regular tickets are $10 each and there are various discounts for students, children, groups and senior citizens.
CHILD TICKETS – We aren’t able to guarantee there won’t be adult content, so it’s up to you if you want your child to attend. Possibly a bit of swearing…

SOLD OUT

The Nigel Cox book launch True Stories Out Loud event has sold out.
Thank you to everyone who RSVP’d for this event.

We’d like to say though that if you’re particularly keen to come there is a chance that some people won’t show up and they’ll be a seat for you on the night.
So rock up and see what happens. RSVP ticket holders will get seated first, whatever’s left is yours.

Maybe see you there? And thanks again to everyone who RSVP’d with such enthusiasm.

 

True Stories from: Elizabeth Knox/Bill Manhire/Fergus Barrowman…

Nigel Cox’s book (the one we can’t say because of its swinging through the jungle namesake), is being re-launched as JUNGLE ROCK BLUES & instead of doing the usual beige bookshop/wine/reading/mudd​ling mess Unity Books and Victoria University Press present:

A ‘True Stories Out Loud’ event:
Where these extraordinary friends and contemporaries of the late, great Nigel Cox will each tell a 10 minute, true & unscripted story on the theme of:
Writing Your Heart Out.

Susanna Andrew / Elizabeth Knox / Fergus Barrowman /
Chris Bourke / Brian Boyd /Damien Wilkins / Bill Manhire /
David Larson & Heidi Shira Tannenbaum

Monday the 29th August, @ The Basement
(Lower Greys Ave, Auckland CBD – www.basementspace.co.nz)
Event starts at 6.30pm
This is a FREE event.
There will be a fully stocked bar & the book will be available to purchase.
Limited seats please RSVP to truestoriesoutloud@gmail.c​om and we’ll send you a confirmation that you will need to print out or show us at the door on your smart phone. Yes, I realise how wanky that sounds – but it saves you a seat nonetheless.

Metro Magazine & True Stories Out Loud Present: REJECTION

3pm on Saturday the 6th of August at the Auckland Arts Festival
a selection of 8 talented and artistic folk will be telling tales on the theme of rejection. Hard to believe they have stories on the topic, but they do and you don’t want to miss out on hearing them.

Simon Wilson – Editor Metro Magazine

Patrick Reynolds – Photographer

Knight Landesman – Editor Art Forum – New York’s prestigious art magazine

Judy Darragh –  Artist

Thomas Sainsbury – Playwright and theatre director

Peter Madden – Artist

Mary Louise Browne  – Artist

Brian Boyd – Author

Entry to the event is free on entry to the Auckland Art Fair
Viaduct Events Centre
Auckland Harbour Front
Halsey Street

We need you to RSVP as there are limited seats. To do this simply email: truestoriesoutloud@gmail.com & we’ll send you a confirmation.
Easy!

Buy tickets for the art fair and check out the other events on the
Auckland Art Fair website

To Be Human / What On Earth Is This?

There’s a saying that goes something like this: I am human, therefore nothing human is foreign to me. We like that saying, we also like themoth.org which was part of the inspiration for setting up True Stories Out Loud. A small organisation run by Susanna Andrew and myself, Lily Richards.
The other inspirations were you, me, us. Somehow hearing other people tell stories from their own lives or the borrowed stories of friends or loved ones, can bring you closer to understanding yourself.

Susanna originally came to me last year with the idea of doing a live story telling event in Auckland – a city left out of community endeavours due in large part to its ill-conceived geography and town planning – and I thought it was a fantastic idea. Hers usually are.

So we pulled together a small bunch of willing souls who agreed to get up in front of strangers and tell a story on the theme of What You Do.
And that was it. 
From that night on we knew that this was something utterly particular and strangely moving.
Emily Perkins came that night and afterwards tweeted:

‘True Stories Told Live. Amazing to be in presence of people remembering, shaping stories in the moment. Funny, awkward, moving, beautiful …’

There’s a huge international movement around telling stories at the moment, which can seem weird considering it’s an ancient art and something we’ve been working to irradiate the need for since we began to write. The written word gave us reproducibility and although that’s utterly wonderful in so many ways there is something so thrilling about um’s and aah’s, mistakes and meanders that happen when someone hasn’t written their story down; they’re just telling it to you, face to face.

It’s the compression, the construction and the sheer originality of each person’s retelling that makes being in the audience so fascinating. The length, for one, is too short to be boring and yet long enough for plot, pace, adventure and humour to sneak in.
Each story is no longer than 10 minutes. There are no notes. No props, which means no script, no photos or videos, sideshows, projectors or music.
Why? Because this is entertainment stripped bare, it is the most ancient form of imaginative conjuring, where words take you places we now lazily rely on technology for transportation to.

To the story tellers who were nervous about the lack of props, we said:

“This is a rare chance for people to listen wholeheartedly without distraction and for you to be heard. Trust us, words will suffice.”

So what is this blog? Well it will shortly turn into a hub for those people interested in hearing some great stories. We will let you know when events will be happening near you / profile some of the storytellers and post anything related to, inspired by or made better by story telling.

So if you’re in the Auckland area, stick with us. We promise you’ll love what you hear…