"Narrative is the soul of drama" Brecht

Wich are the contact points and the divergences between Acting and Storytelling? We can feel quite puzzled over this debate.

Most significantly: the actor works in a group project; the storyteller works in an individual project. The actor has the fourth wall; the storyteller has the direct contact with the audience.The actor has elaborated costumes and props; the storyteller has a minimal set and costume and last but no less important: the actor has a fixed and learned text, working based on a character, the storyteller has a fluid and improvised text and works based on himself as a person.
This is not a scientific formula but it helps to find the way to the soul and heart of narrative.

T. S. Elliot+ La La La Human Steps+ Tom Waits+ Love= Ecphrasis

La Figlia Che Piange

by TS Elliot

O quam te memorem virgo...

Stand on the highest pavement of the stair-
Lean on a garden urn-
Weave, weave the sunlight in your hair-
Clasp your flowers to you with a pained surprise-
Fling them to the ground and turn
With a fugitive resentment in your eyes:
But weave, weave the sunlight in your hair.

So i would have had him leave,
So i would have had her stand and grieve,
So he would have left
As the soul leaves the body torn and bruised,
As the mind deserts the body it has used.
I should find
Some way incomparably light and deft,
Some way we both should understand,
Simple and faithless as a smile and shake of the hand.

She turned away, but with the autumn weather
Compelled my imagination many days,
Many days and many hours:
Her hair over her arms full of flowers.
And i wonder how they should have been together!
I should have lost a gesture and a pose.
Sometimes these cogitations still amaze
The troubled midnight and the noon's repose.

AROUND THE FIRE...

I was kicked out of my room to go to the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith. Pfff!! Got to face the rushed londoners, crazy about the Friday evening, face this cold and rain, face the unreasonable prices of the entrance tickets, face this cold and rain (have i said this before?).

But you know what, i went, it was wonderfull, memorable!

Indeed, i suffer all those torments that i was expecting (less the expensive ticket), but i met one place with people simultaneously so rich and humble. In that centre they provide language, dance and music classes, concerts, book fairs, and literature events such as... Storytelling!!

The gatherings are allways on the second Friday of each month, and yesterday (for the St. Patrick's Day Celebrations) we had the privilege of having TWO Irish Storytellers: Clare Murphy and Diarmuid O'Drisceoil PLUS Irish Music!!

Now you are questioning if i was lost in translation(s). No way.

Suddenly in that tiny place, with the fragrance of wood and incense i've discovered that there are no borders, passports or visas for the language of the storytellers, the language of the heart.