Programs and Workshops

For current workshops, see New Workshop

Are you a school, library or museum who needs a performer? Do do you have an event for which you need a storyteller? Would you like some training to improve your writing or storytelling performances? Then I can provide a wide variety of programs or workshops for you. The following are examples of what I can offer (and check the audio and visuals samples of my storytelling on this page). I can also tailor an event for your specific needs - just let me know what you would like!

Please contact me for further information.

Programs

Feast of Fools - Mediaeval and Midwinter tales and ballads, plus some unusual historical facts about Yuletides past. A jolly good time!

Tales of Byzantium - Lynne recreates the 1000-year history of the Byzantine Empire (327-1453) in just 50 minutes!

Hopeful Monsters: Absurd and Comic Tales of Life Among the Naked Apes - In this extended 'stand-up comedy' style collection of stories, you will meet: a real-life Lois Lane; two cat burglars (one feline, one human); a junk food goddess; and more!

Strange Encounters - A collection of unusual folktales about fateful meetings with mysterious outsiders.

Here Be Dragons: Bellyflopping into the Unknown - Stories about what happens when people break the thin membrane that separates this world from….the next.

In A Pig's Eye: Our Strange Relationship with the Animal Kingdom - A collection of stories about our divided relationship with non-human animals; how we distance ourselves from animals even as we yearn to connect with them. An exploration of our tendency to pamper, torture, worship, kill, love and hate those not of our species.

The Voyage of Saint Brendan: An Irish Epic - A dramatic retelling of Saint Brendan's legendary voyage upon the Atlantic Ocean with several of his fellow monks. Taken from the 8th-century written account, the story encompasses Christian allegory, Homer's Odyssey, and plenty of devils and monsters!

Workshops

A Guy Walks into A Bar: Making People Laugh
Bring comedy into your stories and improve the writing and performance of comic tales. In this workshop, Lynne will teach participants about the fundamentals of comedy: the bringback, the reversal, timing, tone, and more. Participants are asked to bring a story, an idea, or an anecdote (it doesn't have to be humorous) - not more than 5 minutes long - to work on. By the end of the workshop, participants will come away having learned how to enrich their telling using classic standup comedy techniques.

Telling with Words and Pictures
In this hands-on workshop, Lynne teaches how to retain the major elements of an oral story through exercises derived from the disciplines of graphic arts (visual memory) and drama to stimulate memory and creativity. Activities include storyboarding (breaking down the crucial elements of a story in 'comic book' panel form), acting exercises ('hitchhiker', story rounds, movement), and creative word games. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to remember a story told to them, and tell it in their own way. This workshop can be crafted to suit children or adults.

Plays

The Amazing Life and Mysterious End of Ragana, Mistress of Illusion!

In 2007, I wrote and performed this one-act play as part of the Cassandra Project (Portland's festival of women performers) about the search for a mysterious female magician who shone brightly during the Roaring Twenties.

In 2010, I was awarded a Maine Arts Commission Good Idea Grant to rewrite this play, and transform it into a full-length show! I am working hard on the new "Ragana", which will receive a staged, dramatic reading by Acorn Productions (www.acorn-productions.org) in September, 2010. Stay tuned!

Frank's Hat: A Drama in One Act and Three Bars
Frank O'Connor's father has been dead for two months; all Frank has left are an empty house and his pop's hat. When the hat is stolen, Frank must travel to the worst part of town to get it back. In the course of a wild pub crawl, Frank contends with the city's nightcrawlers, barflies - and ghosts. Before the night is over, Frank will find a lot more than he bargained for.

TOP

"The Two Cats"

"Uncle Harold's Last Barbeque"

Youtube: "Whitney"

Youtube: "Brother Jocundus"