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Ex Fabula: Waukesha Reads

Art Montes
Storyteller Jonathan Gorton

Thanks to everyone who attended Ex Fabula's October StorySlam at the Avalon Atmospheric Theater and Lounge. The theater was packed and we celebrated our second sold out show of the season; and this is just the beginning. Are you still nervous about taking to the stage? Join us on October 31st for our second Storytelling Workshop at Turner Hall. And, thanks to the support of The Milwaukee Turners, we are offering our workshops at a very discounted cost this season.

Speaking of workshops, we’re very excited to be teaming up withWaukesha Reads for a second year of workshops and a special Waukesha Reads StorySlam. Ex Fabula and Waukesha Reads continue to build upon their community partnership, this year presenting a series of events exploring the themes of this year’s book, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin.

Credit Katherine Schleicher
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Katherine Schleicher
Tracy Lehrman sharing a story.

These free workshops offer attendees of all ages the opportunity to work alongside an Ex Fabula coach who will guide participants through exercises to find, craft and share a true, personal story on the theme “Coming of Age." Workshop participants will also have the chance to showcase their talents at a free, noncompetitive StorySlam on November 5th.

This week, we’re revisiting two of last year’s stories from the Waukesha Reads StorySlam, “Losing My Mind,” beginning with Tracy Lehrman. One late fall afternoon, Tracy’s family discovered a nest of three baby squirrels in their backyard. Worried the mother would not return or the possums and raccoons would get to the babies first, the family decided to take the squirrels in. As they nursed those squirrel babies to health and they began to grow, Tracy became more attached to these babies than she ever thought she would.

While Tracy felt like she was losing her mind over these squirrels figuratively, our second storyteller, Jonathan Gorton, literally lost part of his mind. Or at least that’s how he sees it after having a stroke in figuratively late 2013. The stroke left his right side paralyzed and his brain “silly putty.” This is Jonathan’s story of recovery after “losing his mind” and we’re happy to say that Jonathan has taken to the Ex Fabula stage several times since this debut.

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