Movement, Masks, Props and Much More

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4 Comments

Comment by Scott and Johanna Hongell-Darsee on May 9, 2008 at 12:00pm

Hi Elaine,

I love using props while telling. I used to actually have a theater company so I have moved away from A LOT of props to just a few. I usually see something that reminds me of a story of a character of a story. It might be as obvious as a mask or sometimes it can be a bowl, a treebranch or a dress. Handling props is sometimes a hassle, it is a challange in it self to find how to handle them without dropping or stumbling over them... Usually I have learned it is better not to try and hide that you are handling the prop. That sometimes backfires ... but actually do it calmly and as part of it all and give the object an important place and attention.

Comment by David S. Sharp on May 5, 2008 at 2:47pm

Hi Elaine

I like the picture of you with the mask and I've always felt that action, props and sound help illustrate a story. I've been working on some plywood back drops to take with us on some of our storytelling shows and from a Greek play I worked on last year for our local college the prop department gave me the sturdy little rock they made to hide my portable battery powered 50Watt amp. That make it easy for my wife and I to do our shows either outside or on a stage without house sound and keep the focus on the theatre of the thing with out a lot of mic stands and speakers sticking out.

Having come at storytelling from years of playing music, I tell stories about musicians in folk tales that play our kind of music and we use the instruments as props that illustrate some of the actions of the characters as well as for sound effects.

I've always done quite a bit of pantomime with things as well. Such as stomp my feet on the stage when the angry father in law makes his entrance into the story. I also have a number of African and tibetan masks hanging about the house and have been giving serious thought about using them for God like characters in stories from those places. We have worked with dancers quite a bit for our stories and my sister has a large childrens dance group that we have written stories for and my sister and two nieces compose dances for. To my mind anything that helps get the story across to the audience is a good thing and fun.

Dave Sharp

Comment by Penny Walter on May 5, 2008 at 1:48pm

I use puppets and props it is like magic for both adults and children

Comment by Buck P Creacy on April 29, 2008 at 3:58pm

Hey Elaine;

I don't much about movement or masks but what a great place to learn.
Buck