Storytellers share personal narratives, engage with audience in Monti performance

A group of five storytellers will go onstage and share personal narratives to complete strangers during a raw, live performance at The ArtsCenter Saturday.

During the season finale of The Monti, an organization that encourages members of the community to share their experiences, the storytellers will present 12-minute narratives to a live audience.

The theme of the show is “Change of Heart,” and Monti director Jeff Polish said change is an important element to every story.

“I realized it was the right theme because there is so much diversity,” he said.

Polish developed the idea for The Monti five years ago as a simple concept where people would step up to the microphone in a venue and tell stories to an audience.

“We sold out our first show in April 2008, and we’ve been selling out shows ever since,” he said.

The storytellers who are invited to participate are not always professionals, but working together with Polish, they hone their stories over several sessions to reach a conversationally told final product.

“What’s really great about The Monti is that it’s amateur hour,” he said.

Polish said storytelling creates a community between the audience and the vulnerable speaker onstage who shares a personal experience.

“It’s so profound when someone hands a gift over to a listener,” he said.

Veteran Monti storyteller Carter Kersh will be one of five participants at Saturday’s season finale, and he said his story is about a conversation he had.

“I had a change of heart about something that I thought, which was not a very pleasant thing,” he said.

Kersh works in high-tech marketing, and uses his storytelling skills everyday.

“Story, to me, is one of the most fundamental ways that humans interact,” he said.

Kersh said he has found it rewarding to sit in the audience and listen to others tell their stories.

“It’s a big thing to go up there onstage and feel almost completely naked in front of the microphone,” he said.

First-time Monti storyteller Kenley Eaglestone, a UNC law student, said the best part of her experience was working with Polish and learning how to tell a story.

“He’s taught me so much about formulating story lines and engaging the audience,” she said.

Eaglestone said her story is about a change of heart after coming to law school and her decision to be a lawyer.

“I’m just so excited to get onstage in front of all these wonderful people and share my story,” she said.

Polish said the word “story-telling” often conjures the image of an old farmer on the porch spinning yarns — but the stories at The Monti are some that everyone can relate to.

“The one thing that I want to prove is that everybody loves storytelling,” he said.

Contact the desk editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.