The Story Project at the FAC

"Some are funny, others profound and all are true" 

The Fine Arts Center is partnering with The StoryProject for a special performance of stories revolving around families of different shapes and sizes on Friday, April 5, at 7:30p.

The Story Project has provided a community vehicle for the presentation of personal narratives for more than two years. Some are funny, others profound and all are true, staged without a script in front of a live audience. The project's regular home is the Marmalade at Smokebrush, where new stories are presented every second Friday at 7 p.m. 

This special edition of The Story Project at the FAC is called, "Modern Families." As Warren Epstein, co-host of The Story Project, said, “Families who face issues that in some way speak to our time.” 

Stories Told By:

• Barb Reichert, mother and U.S. Figure Skating executive
• Roy Kieffer, actor, athlete and vitamin representative
• Xanthe Alexis, singer and musician
• Jennifer Ryan, insurance consultant
• Pablo Sebastián Quiñones, a former ranch hand

Epstein is co-producing this episode of The Story Project with Sharon Friedman, the producer and director, who developed the concept in 2011 after serving on various local publications (Springs Magazine, Bon Vivant, etc.) for over 30 years.  

"I was looking for something which would keep me in contact with the community and, one day after listening to Kathryn Eastburn's stories on KRCC, I thought that I would, could, love to do live stories with an audience," said Friedman. "And no one else was doing this."

The response has been incredible.  Usually over 100 people fill the space at Smokebrush.  Sometimes there is a theme, but not always. Friedman solicits people to tell stories, often people approach her.  The program is aired on KRCC on the first Saturday of each month from 2-3 p.m. and aired on the Pikes Peak Library District's Channel 17 on Tuesdays and Thursday at 7 p.m.

In 2012, the Gazette named The Story Project as the "Best New Theater Experience."

"Theater doesn't happen like this very often," wrote Tracy Mobley-Martinez of the Gazette. "It's regular Joes telling stories -- true stories, stories told without a script or notes or visual aids. The intimacy of 'The Story Project' is often very moving funny and insightful."

And those moments are shaped by Friedman.

"I always hear and help shape each story long before the event, sometimes shaping four or five times, so that it's compelling, true, personal and 15 minutes with a beginning, middle and end," she said. "I don't used scripts because  storytelling is different from acting and I want the stories to feel natural.  People can and do rehearse at home, but stories change once your on stage. "

For the event on April 5 at the Fine Arts Center, Friedman has arranged Jackie Shane to sign the stories for the deaf. 

The Story Project
Friday, April 5,  7:30p | $5
BUY TICKETS | INVITE FRIENDS

Join the Fine Arts Center this spring in exploring the enduring, yet evolving, role of families.