by John Quinn

Posted: Jan. 9, 2015 at 2:30 p.m.

The French have a word for it, and the word is “raconteur.” If that word is unfamiliar, blame it on a common culture which prefers its art pre-fab, tied up in metaphorical bows. Listening to a storyteller takes work – or rather, a willingness to participate in the creative process.

In reviving what is rapidly becoming a lost art, Ann Arbor’s University Musical Society is hosting one of America’s most popular story-tellers, Edgar Oliver, and his one man show, “Helen & Edgar.” Mr. Oliver works with The Moth, an acclaimed initiative dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. The difference between, say, John Lepard’s one-man tour de force in “This Wonderful Life” at the Performance Network last month and The Moth’s stories is summed up in that company’s assertion, “True Stories Told Live.” “Helen & Edgar” is a compilation of the New York City playwright, poet and performer’s recollections of growing up in Savannah, GA, with a sister one year older and their doting but disturbed mother.

While “Helen & Edgar” has its comic moments, one solemn motif pervades the piece. Children accept as normal whatever upbringing in which they’re accustomed. This amateur analyst would diagnose Louise as bi-polar, with an associated obsessive-compulsive disorder and a strong streak of paranoia. Widowed, a frustrated amateur artist, she is deeply possessive of her children and wraps them in a stifling cocoon. As they grow, Helen and Edgar realize Louise is “eccentric,” but her sudden cancellation of a much anticipated European adventure is the last straw. The now mature kids run away from home and head for Europe.

Ah, but is there a happy ending? While he supplies his audience with a hopeful epilogue, Oliver doesn’t tip his hand. You have to fill in the blanks; like a game of “Madlib,” how you do so is an experience in personal discovery.

In his lecture and subsequent essay, “On Faery Stories,” J. R. R. Tolkien creator of the hobbits and author of “The Hobbit” (not your average storyteller, either, mind you) explored the relationship between artist and audience. Of particular interest is his explanation of varying levels of participation in the creative process an audience takes – in layman’s terms, how much imagination one is willing to exert to flesh out the narrative. Professor T. suggests the written word leave the field of dreams wide open – but the spoken word is not far behind.

Director Catherine Burns evokes the most common modern form of spoken narrative, radio. Edgar Oliver performs in a pool of light on an otherwise darkened stage with only a microphone and its stand for company. Although he uses gestures to emphasize the narrative, the stark setting focuses attention on his powerful voice and distinctive delivery. The result is hypnotic but never dull.

One of the worst-kept New Year resolutions is the promise to get in shape. Swept up as we are in the tragicomedy of Oliver’s upbringing, “Helen & Edgar” is a healthy flexing of intellectual muscle unused in an era of binge TV. You won’t even ache the next day.

When writing theater reviews I learn things I didn’t know about “The D.” In this case, I found that The Moth hosts StorySlam, a monthly invitation for amateur raconteurs to tell their stories live and onstage in venues around metro Detroit. Thursday, January 8, The Gem Theatre hosts the GrandSlam Championship; the next StorySlam is in Ann Arbor on the 20th. Got a story to tell? Got those intellectual muscles toned? Check out The Moth at: www.themoth.org The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. It is a celebration of both the raconteur, who breathes fire into true tales of ordinary life, and the storytelling novice, who has lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it. At the center of each performance is, of course, the story – and The Moth’s directors work with each storyteller to find, shape and present it. Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide.

SHOW DETAILS: ‘Helen & Edgar’
UMS
at the Arthur Miller Theater, in U-M’s Walgreen Drama Center
1226 Murfin, Ann Arbor
‘Helen & Edgar’ runs Jan. 7 – 11, 2015
Upcoming showtimes:
Jan 9, 2015 at 8:00 pm
Jan 10, 2015 at 2:00 pm
Jan 10, 2015 at 8:00 pm
Jan 11, 2015 at 2:00 pm
Jan 11, 2015 at 6:00 pm.
1 hour 45 minutes, 15 minute intermission
$45-$60
734-763-3333
www.ums.org