Rabbit Box Celebrates 10 Years: Strengthening Community Through Storytelling

Faithfully dedicated to the art of storytelling, regional party collection Rabbit Box breathes new everyday living into an ancient custom. As attentive audience users empathetically listen—at situations bursting into laughter, holding their breath in suspense or blinking again tears—everyday community users move on stage to inform their real existence stories. Vulnerable, highly effective and inspiring, these real accounts variety from humorous to heartbreaking. The sequence, which celebrates its 10-calendar year anniversary this thirty day period, reinforces the belief that all people today have special activities to share, and all persons can grow from hearing the perspectives of other folks. 

“Rabbit Box may perhaps be 10 several years previous, but storytelling started off hundreds of yrs back,” says director Leara Rhodes. “We are striving to capture up. We have held 85 demonstrates, 706 stories have been shared, and innumerable connections have been designed as a result of private tales.”

Founded by community artist, writer and activist Marci White in 2012, Rabbit Box was inspired by The Moth, a New York City-centered nonprofit that, in addition to jogging a weekly podcast and radio present, presents storytelling occasions in about two dozen cities throughout the place. Rabbit Box’s title is a tribute to the dearly departed songwriter Vic Chesnutt, whose prolific and poetic discography is entirely confessional, darkly comic and unapologetically candid—much like the tales shared on phase. 

Growing in recognition and attendance around the several years, the function has moved from its first site at Avid Bookshop, to The Globe, to The Melting Level (now referred to as The Foundry) and at last to its present-day venue of VFW Submit 2872 on Sunset Push. Apart from bouncing all-around town, pretty small has modified to the event’s format about the past ten years. 

Through just about every Rabbit Box, eight grown ups have eight minutes every single to notify a genuine story responding to that month’s predetermined theme. Guaranteeing an component of spontaneity and making certain that tales are told not go through, storytellers should recount their tales from memory without the assistance of a script or notecards. The good news is, tale coach Pat Priest is available to help manual storytellers in shaping a cohesive narrative right before stepping up to the microphone. 

“Every time we start to choose our themes, we talk about how to engage new storytellers and how to endorse audience progress,” states volunteer board member Connie Crawley. “We believe about whom we have not read from and who prospective audience users will be.”

With a mission to link communities one tale at a time, the board thoughtfully selects a assortment of themes and range of speakers. Frequently, themes are supposed to lend a system to persons with marginalized identities, these types of as customers of the LGBTQ, Black, immigrant or elder populations. Others might react to existing functions, spotlight nearby companies or simply examine attention-grabbing subject areas. Audio recordings from every clearly show are afterwards archived on rabbitbox.org for upcoming audiences to take pleasure in. 

“Themes are identified in substantially the similar way as you identify a child,” says Rhodes. “You have no idea what that child’s individuality will be like, but still you come to feel you ought to give that child a identify. There is pondering. Thoughts are thrown out, turned down, modified and then recognized. The strategy is that the topic should be unique enough to have men and women detect with it and wide ample that it can be thought of in quite a few various techniques. We have the themes for the drop: ‘Wallflower,’ ‘Undone’ and ‘Last Phone.’ Check with any three people and they will all know what all of these are, and they will all be various. I cannot wait to hear these stories in September, October and November.”

On Tuesday, May perhaps 24, Rabbit Box will rejoice its 10th anniversary with “Back to the Long run: New Stories from Some of our Favored Storytellers,” a method showcasing return appearances by Earnest Thompson, Lora Smothers, Paul Guillebeau, Ramsey Nix, Nasrin Rouhani and Gwen O’Looney, furthermore emcees Stevie King and Tara Stuart. As for each tradition, audience associates can fall their name into a box for a possibility to be drawn as the “crackerjack surprise” storyteller who tells an impromptu tale right after intermission. A unique table identified as “Independents Unite!” will be designated for any individual attending solo who’s intrigued in assembly new persons and encountering the demonstrate with each other. The night also offers a complete income bar and treats from Tricia’s Office environment.

“Rabbit Box can have powerful private effects on the storytellers, the listeners and we hope the overall community,” states Crawley. “Storytelling can be a cathartic event that can assist anyone to attain aid from some others who might share a comparable encounter or from those people who suddenly notice how a similar knowledge would have an impact on them. Other moments the storyteller just sees it as a exciting opportunity to try to remember a humorous function and snicker at themselves. Our viewers usually just wants to fail to remember the troubles of the entire world and delight in a big stomach snicker. That is why we have these kinds of a broad wide variety of themes and storytellers.”

No subject who is standing on stage, listeners have a exceptional chance to hear from new views that, with hope, will deepen their understanding, empathy and feeling of connectedness to other folks. With just about every Rabbit Box that takes place, the organization’s reach expands even more and more into the neighborhood.

“In a way, I am not astonished Rabbit Box has lasted,” suggests Crawley. “From infancy, individuals like to hear and inform tales. It is how knowledge is handed from one particular era to another through the ages.”

WHO: Rabbit Box’s 10th anniversary 
WHEN: Tuesday, May possibly 24, 6 p.m. (doorways), 7 p.m. (celebration)
Wherever: VFW Post 2872
HOW Significantly: $8 (adv.), $10 

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