Better Said Than Done performer Anne Thomas. Photos by Kian McKellar/Courtesy of Better Said Than Done
Drawing upon their own real life adventures, snags and snares, storytellers from Northern Virginia’s Better Said Than Done enthralled an audience at a recent Saturday evening at Fairfax’s Auld Shebeen. With adroit storytelling based upon unexpected real events, seven skilled storytellers enchanted patrons with theatrical accounts full of charm and wonder. The evening was called “You Choose the Adventure.”
The “You Choose the Adventure” stories were not fictional. The chronicles were about true events as seven storytellers spoke about distinct challenges that affected them dearly. Each turned a lived event into a rewarding, often riveting 12 minute vignette. There was plenty of self-deprecating humor to go along with narratives told with dramatic flair and often meant for mature audiences.
For “You Choose the Adventure” there was also very key audience participation; “the chance to direct the show a bit," said Jessica Piscitelli Robinson (Fairfax), Better Said Than Done founder.
As a particular individual performance took place, each of the storytellers was stopped at two points. With guidance from the skilled master of ceremonies Derek Hills, the audience voted on two options for each story’s next path. Each option was based on what really happened one at some point in time. Without missing a beat, each story teller successfully met the challenge.
Stories included Anne Thomas gripping tale of her adventure in Rwanda getting up close and personal with a Silverback Gorilla. Thomas fascinated the audience as she spoke of being in a wheelchair at the time while in the jungle seeing the gorilla. Married couple Mary Supley Foxworth and David Supley Foxworth (Reston) charmed with their adventures together in Iceland; when time together could get a little too discussing what to do next.
Stephanie Garibaldi bewitched with her tale of becoming a “Goddess of Fertility” during a stay in Central America while Jessica Piscitelli Robinson provided a poignant tale of her unplanned long car trip to Glacier National Park in Montana while newly pregnant and with a way wrong tour guide.
Then there was Jack Scheer who vividly recalled his sadly eventful days as a college dorm resident assistant who made some costly mistakes. Finally came Len Kruger who spoke with authenticity about life in a late 1960s “socialist” summer camp learning about distinctive economic systems when he was 10 years old.
The evening with Better Said Than Done storytellers brought lively and unique takes on true-life.
Where and When
Better Said Than Done’s “You Choose the Adventure" performed at The Auld Shebeen (downstairs), 3971 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, on Saturday evening, Aug. 27, 2016.
Next show for Better Said Than Done is “Wild Life: stories about living or being wild” to be performed at the Reston Nature House, Walker Nature Center, 11450 Glade Drive, Reston. Performance on Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. Tickets: $15. Information at: www.bettersaidthandone.com or call 571-334-8652. Note: Proceeds benefit Friends of Reston for Community Projects.