KSU Tellers

Who We Are

The Kennesaw State University Tellers is a co-curricular undergraduate storytelling troupe sponsored by the Department of Theatre & Performance Studies. If you are interested in joining the Tellers at KSU, please prepare a 1-to-5 minute personal story of your own creation. Be prepared to discuss conflicts and obligations you have in the upcoming semester

What We Do
The KSU Tellers develop a repertoire of diverse performances appropriate to a variety of audiences and occasions. Original personal narratives, performance of literature, devised theatre, traditional folktales, and classic fairytales are among the many kinds of performance we create. Our performance work often results in paid public events that raise funds for the troupe’s projects. Second, our members engage in professional development opportunities. Each year we travel to various festivals or conferences to hone our craft and network with established artists and scholars. Finally, the Tellers act as ambassadors for the TPS Department, the College of the Arts, and KSU as a whole. We engage in numerous educational outreach activities, offering performances and storytelling workshops for area schools.

How to Join
Membership in the KSU Tellers requires an audition and successful completion of TPS 1600 Introduction to Performance Studies. Auditions are held in the beginning of the Fall Semester. If you are cast you must register for TPS 4010 Storytelling Practicum. This is a two-credit hour course that may be repeated for up to six hours of course credit. For more information, please contact Dr. Charles Parrott in Wilson 220 or by e-mail.

Performances

Performances at KSU
Each semester the Tellers share their finest original storytelling performances in the Department’s Onyx Theater.

Performance in the Community
The Tellers are proud to have the opportunity to entertain all kinds of audiences with stories ranging from personal narratives and devised theatre to folktales and fairytales. We’ve performed at the Atlanta Fringe Festival, the “Do Tell” Storytelling Festival at Madison Morgan Cultural Center, DragonCon, PushPush Theatre, Serenbe Playhouse, the Atlanta Aquarium, the, and the Atlanta Science Festival in addition to many local schools. We see these events as opportunities to give people a window into one of the most entertaining traditions in performance.

The Tellers have also performed at academic conferences and festivals including: the Southern States Communication Association Conference, the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement Annual Conference, the International Council of Fine Arts Deans Annual Conference, the Patti Pace Performance Festival, and the Petite Jean Performance Festival.

Project and Conferences

Global Village Project
In fall of 2013 the Tellers developed and delivered a curriculum for building storytelling skills to the students at the Global Village Project (GVP). “GVP girls,” as they refer to themselves, are refugees from across the globe, who have been placed in Clarkston, GA. The school’s main mission is to prepare the girls for a traditional high school or GED program. Dr. Parrott and the KSU Tellers visited GVP four times and each visit focused on a different set of storytelling skills.

The Tellers then created an original ensemble work based on their experiences teaching at GVP. An early version was first presented at the Patti Pace Performance Festival. An updated version was presented as part of a competitively selected panel presentation at the 2014 International Association for Service Learning and Community Engagement Conference.

Patti Pace Performance Festival
Each year the Tellers attend the Patti Pace Performance Festival and perform an original ensemble performance. In 2012 they created a new devised a new work entitled FairyTold for the festival. The Tellers then presented a panel about devising as undergraduates at the 2012 Southern States Communication Association Conference.

Personal Narrative Project
In the fall of 2010 The Tellers traveled to the Marietta Middle School several times to teach students about personal narrative performance. The Tellers guided the students through the selection of stories and helped them translate those stories from the page to the stage. The project culminated with the students creating their own school assembly were they performed their stories for dozens of their peers. In 2011 students gave a presentation about this project and performed personal narratives on a competitively selected panel at the Southern States Communication Association Conference.

Inviting The Tellers to Perform

To invite The Tellers to perform at one of your events contact Dr. Charles Parrott at cparrot5@kennesaw.edu. We ask for a modest honorarium when working with for-profit organizations and we accept invitations on a case-by-case basis.