Let your story breathe
Tips, tricks, inspiration, and encouragement for storytellers of all stripes
Greetings from Columbiana—
So Columbiana, Ohio, was awarded “Nicest Place in America” by Reader’s Digest.
Having been here a couple days, I can verify that almost everyone out on the sidewalks nods, smiles, and/or says, “Hi, how are you?”
And as a runner who is constantly dodging strangely aggressive Florida drivers, it’s quite refreshing how almost every motorist here slows and waves pedestrians through crosswalks. On a two-block walk from the theatre to a lunch cafe, we got waved across the street by three different drivers!
“We” is me and the LAST OUT cast, along with the incredible tech team from the Columbiana Arts Theatre, affectionately known as The CAT.
If you happen to be on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border today, zip on over to the CAT and catch our performance tonight at 7pm.
Your Story is Alive
The LAST OUT cast and I have been working together now for almost a year.
We are telling a scripted story. The words don’t change. The staging doesn’t change. But over the last many months, all of us have changed. As a result, the show changes. How could it not?
Also, each audience teaches us something new. They reflect the story back to us in laughs and gasps and tears and talkbacks.
Strictness kills story. Preciousness kills story.
Your story is a living thing. It needs to breathe. To evolve. You aren’t the same person you were a year ago. So why should your story to be the same?
You learn. You grow. You betray or get betrayed. You forgive. You gain understanding of new concepts. You experience emotions in new contexts.
If you keep these changes away from your story, it will wither, collect dust, and become brittle.
Yesterday, we had the luxury of a full day of rehearsal. We had time for scenework! That doesn’t always happen on these tour stops. But when it does, we dive into playing. We explore. We riff. We experiment. We remove restriction and pursue enrichment.
We discover new moments, or turn old moments a couple degrees so prism-like they refract the light into colors we never considered before.
Tonight, a new audience will reflect our story back to us again. It will breathe in the telling.
And change again.
The Page&Stage Podcast
A reminder to check out my podcast conversation with the one and only Lee Gundersheimer.
Lee Gundersheimer joins me to share his remarkable journey through the theater world—as actor, director, playwright, and educator. From formative lessons with Uta Hagen to reinvention in Winona’s vibrant arts community, Lee reflects on the power of reputation, the wisdom gained from both success and failure, and the enduring joy of collaboration. With insights on showing up, staying curious, and the nature of theater itself, this inspiring conversation celebrates a life devoted to storytelling and connection.
You can listen on the Substack App, and all episodes are also available on Apple or Spotify.
Or, if you want to put faces with voices, you can watch the video version of this podcast over on YouTube.
And if you’re enjoying or finding value in the Page&Stage Podcast, please leave a review. They truly help! Just click the purple button below to open Apple Podcasts and scroll down to Ratings and Reviews.
Quick reminder that you are welcome to comment on this newsletter. I do my absolute best to respond to every comment, so if something I’ve offered above tickles that question/comment/complaint nerve in your reader-brain, I’d love to hear about it.
And if there’s a storytelling topic or issue you’d like me to address—writing, acting, directing, speaking, whatever—email me directly at jason@jasoncannon.art. If I don’t have a ready answer, I’ll make it my mission to go find one.
Thanks as always for reading, and have a great weekend—
Jason “Nicest Newsletter Dude in America” Cannon