Café Society will meet at the Cultural Center on Wednesday, May 18
The Power of Storytelling
Join us for a conversation about the power of storytelling with members of the original cast in Prop Theater’s current production of Arizona, No Roosters in the Desert. Artists Erica Hernandez and Jazmin Corona will kick off this conversation about the magic and the art of storytelling.
From “No More Questions!” by Dave Issay
“…we’ll find poetry, grace, and wisdom in the stories we find all around us when we take the time to listen. That listening to another persons’ story reminds them they matter and won’t be forgotten.”
Want to learn more?
- Arizona, No Roosters in the Desert
- Jonathan Harris collects stories
- Story Lab: Chicago’s Freshest Storytelling Night
- The power of a story
- The Courage and Joy of Storytelling
Questions for Consideration
What kind of emotional power is one story capable of? How do you think storytelling has changed over time? We live in a digital age surrounded by technology, why do you think storytelling has risen in popularity or what kind of void does it fill? Why is it important to explore our own stories and what can be done with them once they have been collected? What role does storytelling play in immigrant cultures or other marginalized cultures?
About the speakers
Jazmin Corona’s Chicago theatre credits include Under America (Mortar Theatre Company), Para Carmen (Collaboraction/Goodman Theatre’s Latino Theatre Festival), Macbeth (First Folio Theatre), Al Son Que Me Toques, Lorca (La Molecula Artistica/Goodman Theatre’s Latino Theatre Festival), Children of a Lesser God (Village Players Theatre), Yerma and Manual for a Desperate Crossing (Halcyon Theatre), Choose your Adventure (Babes With Blades), and The Sun Always Shines for the Cool (Urban Theatre Company). Outside of Chicago, Ms. Corona has appeared in Venus, Dojoji and The Vagina Monologues (Cleveland Public Theatre), Catholic School Girls (Ensemble Theatre), Othello and State of Siege (Bad Epitaph Theatre Company) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Dirty Shakespeare). Her on-camera credits include The Southside Has Many Beauty Queens (Winner of the Audience Choice award at the 2010 Chicago Latino Film Festival), Dawn (Jaime Mariscal) and Schizo Cool (Schizcago Pictures) . Ms. Corona studied dance in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and was a dancer with Ballet Folklorico Tepehuani Nelli for several years. She has also been a teaching artist for The Cleveland Play House, Great Lakes Theatre Festival and Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, currently teaching theatre and dance in schools throughout Chicago and touring educational outreach shows for children with Boom Troupe, Inc.
Erica Hernandez is a local Chicago actress who has worked with a variety of theatre companies including: Aguijón Theater Co., Teatro Luna, Halcyon Theatre Co., Teatro Vista, Prologue Theatre Co. and Chicago Fusion Theatre Co. among others. Her recent credits include performing at Prop Thtr in the Chicago premiere of No Roosters in the Desert, directed by Tanya Saracho and Aguijón Theater Company (Chicago’s only theatre company committed to creating and performing Spanish-language work) in the Spanish version of Sophocles’ Antigone, as well as their bilingual production of Soldaderas at the company’s home theatre here in Chicago, and performances for the 2010 Goodman Latino Theatre Festival and the Festival de Mujeres en Escena por la Paz in Bogotá, Colombia. Erica holds a B.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and can be seen this fall at the DCA Theater in Corazón de Manzana, a play directed by Ann Filmer (16th Street Theater) and written by Dana Lynn Formby (Mortar Theatre Co.).