Your Real Stories Inc

There is nothing more compelling than a real story and few things that connect people faster or better. At a time when our cities and nation have become so  polarized along racial, gender and ideological  lines, our successful 'theatrical journalism" model uses the stories of real people to challenge us to talk and listen to each other across perceived differences of identity, experience and opinions.   We are proving with each project that storytelling has the power to get passed a host of barriers and the potential to transform whole communities. 

 

• "Decades of Day Work" 
   
• "St Pete Stories"
   
• "Story Days in Tampa Bay" 
   
•  "LGBTQ+ Homeless Youth Project"

 We interview real people using our trademarked approach and create scripts that are then presented by professional actors for the first half of a theatre performance followed by audience engagement with a moderated panel. Our storytellers have told us that their experiences from interview to performance have been 'life changing'.  Our audiences have told us that they have never before had the opportunity to talk about matters of race and other divisive issues so openly. 

"Very special and enlightening."  "Powerful ...extremely well told...(an) important contribution  to social healing." 

That's how people responded to our series 'Decades of Day Work,'  (2011-2015) about the complex relationships that grow up inside the institution of domestic day work. We created a safe environment  for people  to share their wonderfully human stories of love and loss and sometimes to break decades of silence because of guilt or shame. Archival photographs contributed by the storytellers form the basis of a traveling museum exhibit, My Soul Looks Back: The Decades of Day Work Photographic Exhibit. The exhibit also includes excerpts from the scripts and contemporary portraits of each of the storytellers by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Boyzell Hosey. Venue partners for the exhibit include the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum and the Studio@620 in St. Petersburg. 

Your Real Stories was commissioned in 2015 to produce a series of four community conversations as part the City pf St Petersburg's diversity and inclusion initiative. We called the series "This is My city: St Pete Stories." Participants responded with, "Awesome, powerful, excellent...moving and inspiring...great stories, great personalities...We need more events like this!... It was the most revealing and transforming experience that I have had in years living in this city." 

We also partner with artists and organizations for our annual 'Story Days in Tampa Bay' storytelling festival. Begun in 2014, this now six-day event presents stories in a variety of ways. Stories are told, sung, danced, read to children in libraries, analyzed in writing seminars, seen in exhibits and documentaries and experienced in poetry slams. Our partners include the Tampa Bay Times, WEDU, Studio@620, American Stage Theatre, Florida Holocaust Museum, USF, USFSP, MFA, Venture House, Rogue Dance, and St. Petersburg City Library System. The next "Story Days in Tampa Bay" is scheduled for October 2-7,2017.

Your Real Stories regularly collaborates with American Stage to produce evenings of theatre that invite the audience to explore themes found in some of  their staged performances.  Following the August Wilson plays, Radio Golf  and Two Trains Running and Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel, we gathered and scripted the stories of several area residents and led the audiences in conversations about the themes presented in each play. Following the production of A Tale of Two Cities as told by a 'drag queen,' Your Real Stories presented the life of the famous 'drag queen', Heather Fontaine, and led a full house in a discussion about responses to this part of the Tampa Bay community.

Our trademarked model also helped us to create a presentation as part of the  LGBTQ Homeless Youth Project in collaboration with Planning Works and Family Resources. Your Real Stories produced the theatrical performance, "Out of the Shadows" that highlighted the stories of LGBTQ+ homeless young people and the professionals who serve them. We presented the two-hour program at the 800-seat Palladium Theatre on March 21, 2017. This time, the audience participation also included the use of software developed by Collaborative Labs of St. Petersburg College. People used their cell phones to submit questions to the panel and to report how they wanted to volunteer to help this most vulnerable part of our community.

“Everyone in our community has a story to share. These special stories highlight our differences and our similarities, which we should celebrate in a meaningful way. After all, they are what make our families, neighborhoods, communities and our city so remarkable.” Mayor Rick Kriseman, St. Petersburg, FL

Help us keep Tampa Bay talking! We need your help to reach our goal of $6,000 to continue to produce quality programs, create jobs for actors and production professionals and to support them with appropriate equipment and materials. We have already begun creating a book manuscript and a documentary. And we have plans to make our storytelling festival a national/international event!

You have supported us every step of the way.

Thank you!

 

Photo Credits: Boyzell Hosey, LaraCerri and Chris Zuppa

Video Credit: Chris Zuppa