The show, inspired by NPR’s The Moth Radio Hour, features “real people telling real stories,” co-producer Sarah Syverson said. The eight- to 10-minute tales are true and told in the first person by the people who experienced them, she said.
“We really appreciate this authentic connection to people and connecting in a vulnerable, clear and powerful way,” Syverson said. “We had a desire to create more of that.”
The Raven Narratives show will take place in Cortez at the Sunflower Theatre on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The storytelling troupe will travel to Durango on Saturday, where they will perform at the Durango Arts Center at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the Cortez show are sold out, but tickets for the Durango show Saturday were still available as of Thursday morning.
For the first Raven Narratives shows, which took place in February, the theme was “Wild Places.” For the summer performance in August, the theme will be “Exposure,” and October’s fall show theme will be “Forces.”
Co-producer Tom Yoder said this weekend’s show features a mix of stories that fit the theme differently. Some stories feature people picking up physical baggage, some stories deal with unpacking emotional baggage, and others are stories of people discovering found baggage, he said.
Yoder said since most stories are inherently about baggage, the theme fits the idea of storytelling.
“When you stand up in front of people it allows you to take the mask off and be real with people,” he said.
Yoder will take the stage for the first time as a storyteller this weekend. He’s telling a story from his childhood, and preparing it for the show required doing some research and delving into his past, he said.
“It takes courage,” Yoder said of storytelling. “But some stories have a life of their own and they have to be told. Telling them in a vulnerable way allows them to be out there.”