Baring all to tell a story

By Olivia Haynes Spinning yarns and telling a good tale are all part of Australian culture. Now a Perth company is teaching people how. Barefaced Stories was created by local performers and producers Andrea Gibbs and Kerry O’Sullivan as a way of inspiring others to get involved in modern day storytelling and in creating first class shows. Once a month Barefaced Stories holds a live storytelling event at The Bird on William Street where storytellers “bare all, telling the whole truth about everything and anything.” Before each storytelling evening Andrea and Kerry host a workshop that allows each participant’s story to be crafted into the best it can be. Andrea describes the first day as simply grabbing stories out of people – she believes that everyone has a story to tell but it’s just a matter of getting them to talk. “I teach you how to craft a story,” said Andrea. The second day of the workshop is learning about shaping that story into something the audience can relate to. “It was amazing actually, our class had such a mix of people but it was the quietist people who had the best stories to tell,” said Natalie Woodman, who took part in a Barefaced Stories workshop. Those workshops are home to a variety of people including the general public, community groups and government bodies including The Mental Health Commission. “These are true stories, so while only some are comedic like mine, there was some really heartfelt stories told,” said Natalie. Comedy is something that Andrea uses to make her workshop participants comfortable. She says that it is important for them to feel open to tell their story. Andrea started out performing in comedy shows around Australia but the length of a stand up comedy routine simply wasn’t enough for her, which began the search for a different storytelling style.