“Caitlin, if something scares you that much, there’s a fairly good chance you need to do it’.” Pretty sound advice from a former boss and curator – and it was with that firmly in mind that I applied for an a-n professional development bursary to work on my performance and storytelling skills.

Although I’m not a particularly nervous public speaker, the thought of performing my own written work in this way was pretty terrifying. My plan was not only to learn performative storytelling skills – and make that big step outside of my comfort zone– but also to get a better understanding of narrative models and structures. So I sought the advice of the wise and experienced Katrice Horsley, professional storyteller and former National Storytelling Laureate.

It was a good thing I’d promised to try everything with an open heart and mind, because in my first session Katrice had me walking around in a public park, repeating the same sentence over and over in a variety of intonations, volumes and tones. “The sound of the stone-tipped tool still echoed around her, tick-tocking as the days and nights passed.” “The sound of the stone-tipped tool still echoed around her, tick-tocking as the days and nights passed.’” “The sound of the stone-tipped tool still echoed around her, tick-tocking as the days and nights passed.”

Yes people looked. Yes I may have gone red. But yes, I learned a lot. Words can s t r e t c h. Wordscanbunchtogether. Words can sing. Words. Can. Have. A. Tight. Staccato. Rhythm.

From there, Katrice worked with me on structures and nuances of storytelling using a variety of fun activities. I played with tarot cards, learned clapping games, and mimed emotions. I sketched on paper, first the shape of my story, then the key plot points, the rhythm, anchor words, and phrases to know by heart. We looked at repetition, metaphor, pulling people in close and pushing them back out, and repetition. She prompted me at every point to stimulate the senses: What does it feel like? What does it smell like? What does it taste like? How does it look? How does it sound?

The impact that these sessions have had are already apparent to me in my performance and delivery, and also in how I approach writing the scripts. I’ve taken lots of Katrice’s lessons forward into the development and presentation of new work: next month I’m performing What is Socrates’ phone number? at Homegrown, HFWAS, Birmingham and I have just finished filming a new video work I left as an act of love.

www.caitlingriffiths.com

www.arthistories.co.uk


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