STORYTELLING IS A WAY OF LIFE

In Africa, and many indigenous cultures, storytelling is integrated into every day life. As such, it plays a major role in shaping people’s lives. It is not only entertaining, but it passes on the values and principles of a culture. It is a teaching tool and a guide used to raise children and instill wisdom and harmony into people.

This authentic experience is what you will see if you come to hear Comfort perform. In order to re-create the environment in which she learned all of these stories, Comfort invites the audience to participate in the drama. In schools, community centres, libraries and festival tents, Comfort creates an atmosphere of inhibition as she gets children of all ages to come up and join the fun.

For those who don’t know, participatory theatre (or forum theatre as it is sometimes called) requires volunteer audience members to move the story along. Comfort (along with a drummer or two) is there to tell the story, guide the volunteers, and stop the action when a characters’ decision is to be made. She eagerly encourages the audience to help, to make a suggestion or just to think. Unlike the passive act of watching television, children, youth and adults are given the opportunity to express their opinions or voice their concerns. We believe that this is a far more enriching activity.

Comfort is a master storyteller; she is active, engaged and performs thoughtful repetition of values and messages that increase a child’s ability to identify themes, decisions, challenges, dilemmas and moral issues and to make the right decision.