Since I started doing radio shows, I’ve featured storytellers. Those who tell their stories on the printed page or on a stage, through pictures or video, or entirely through sound, as we do on the radio. And in all that time, one of the very best has been Portland Story Theater, founded by two of the very best storytellers – Lynne Duddy and Lawrence Howard.
Lynne and Lawrence started Portland Story Theater back in 2004, as an organization dedicated to the art of personal narrative. For 20 years now, they’ve been presenting live in-person events featuring a diverse group of storytellers and their tales. Lynne and Lawrence recently announced their retirement and we’ll be celebrating their work and their art on today’s show. I’ve interviewed them both multiple times, pretty much on all my KBOO shows – the Holy Crowley Hour, Mr. Jones’s Neighborhood, and now Jonesy – and it’s always been a great joy to talk with them and hear their stories.
Since we’re just a month away from Halloween, and Portland Story Theater’s first live performance, 20 years ago, was a Halloween show called “Night Terrors”, I thought it fitting to rebroadcast a show I did with Lynne and Lawrence on Halloween night 2016. We talk about Portland Story Theater and the art of storytelling, including what makes a good story, and Lynne and Lawrence, in tandem, treat us to a chilling Halloween night tale – “The Shadow Cage” by Phillipa Pearce.
It was such a treat to watch and listen to Lynne and Lawrence tell the story, sitting just across from me, live in the KBOO studios. Kind of like having Bruce Springsteen perform in your living room. I think it will be a great treat for you as well. So dim the lights, grab an enormous bowl of candy corn, and join us.
Now here, from October 31, 2016, our show with Lynne Duddy and Lawrence Howard of Portland Story Theater.
- KBOO