It All Began With A Story
It all began with a story. In ancient times as our ancestors sat around the fire, they began telling each other stories. These were to remind each other of who they were and what they had learned along the way. Those stories became a living history, a touchstone for remembering the important things. The things that bore repeating, and the things that should never ever be repeated.
Joe Pierre is a storyteller, an expert in the “first human art form”
Joe Pierre believes that those ancient humans sitting around the newly discovered fire, began oral descriptions of great hunts, and great dangers, cautionary tales that created a living history. From generation to generation those stories were repeated, and became the legends and the history at the basis of our knowledge today.
Pierre believes that the importance of storytelling should never be overlooked.
Stories are the reminder of who we are and what we did, right or wrong. They remind us of things that did and didn’t work in the past, and we are able to learn and benefit from those experiences.
The ancient art form evolved and it can be supposed that along the way, someone picked up a drum and began to add a bit of music. Someone else probably began to dance. And with these flourishes, the stories came alive, creating emotionally powerful responses and fixing the stories even more firmly into collective memory.
Pierre considers theatre to be the modern day version of the fire circle. The audience comes and sits staring at the lights on the stage. In shared, moving experience, community is formed within the circle, and the music, or play, or entertainment serves to bond everyone in attendance. The sharing of the experience somehow enhances it for everyone.
Ever notice how much funnier a comedian is when you watch with a group of people, all laughing together? The same routine watched at home alone, just doesn’t seem to have the same impact.
Storytelling forms the root of all that happens on the stage and Pierre is excited to see the powerful musical, Children of God, which hits the Key City Theatre stage on March 19.
In this groundbreaking and important musical, the children of an Oji-Cree family are sent to a residential school in Northern Ontario. It’s a story of redemption and courage that blends ancient traditions and contemporary realities, and celebrates the resiliency and the power of the Indigenous cultural spirit.
Children of God has a foot in both truth and reconciliation. It is raw, real storytelling that represents hope. That a production like this can actually exist today is hope.
Pierre believes the power of storytelling through theatre, music and dance can allow greater understanding and may help to answer some of the big questions, like why are we here, and how can we help.
Children of God promises to be one of the most powerful and moving theatre events ever to grace the stage at Key City Theatre. Tickets are available at the box office or you can click here to buy yours now.
