Students will have a free opportunity to preview the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival this Friday, Jan. 26, in the Trojan Center Theatre from 11 to 11:50 a.m.
For the past 12 years, the Brundidge Historical Society has brought the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival to Troy. The performance features folksy music and engaging, humorous anecdotes about life and growing up in the South.
“It’s a fabulous annual event where storytellers who are truly extraordinary and make their living telling stories across the United States can continue that folk art of storytelling,” said Maryjo Cochran, a professor of communication studies and an organizer of the event.
Students and faculty can come Friday morning to the TC Theatre, where Josh Goforth will perform.
“We really felt that it was an important opportunity for students to at least hear the storytelling,” Cochran said. “To see some of these world-champion speakers is really quite phenomenal in Troy.”
Josh Goforth is a seasoned, nationally recognized storyteller and musician whose performances have drawn large crowds at Troy University in the past.
“Josh is probably one of the most talented people that you will ever see, and he’s a wonderful storyteller,” said Jaine Treadwell, a member of the Brundidge Historical Society and an organizer of the event.
“It’s a great thing before you go have lunch or you go to class, and it’ll rejuvenate you, and it’ll be a delightful time,” Cochran said. “When you can identify with it, it just makes you happy, makes you feel good, and we can use more of those kind of events.
“It’s good for your soul.”
Although the Piddlers tell folk stories and use interactive sets, the event is not geared towards just young children but, instead, is created for all ages.
“It’s not fairy tales, which is what we usually think of when we think of stories, but it’s stories of real people, in real places and the humor that comes out of ordinary life,” said David Kirby, lecturer of multimedia journalism and communication studies and one of the organizers.
The music at the festival generally includes some folk music that has pieces of storytelling from some of the masters. There will be four storytellers featured during the two-day performance: Donald Davis, Josh Goforth, Tim Lowry and Elizabeth Ellis.
“This gives you an idea of how you can craft a story and deliver it without fancy sets, how to keep people spellbound by just the strength of your writing and the power of your delivery,” Kirby said.
The festival will be held on Saturday, Jan. 27, and will have three shows in TC at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Each show includes different performances. The cost of the first and last shows will be $10 and the show at 2 p.m., which will be a little longer, will cost $15.
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