Activated Stories

"The Farmer and the Werewolf" is a tale from Ireland, a country that traditionally has spun many yarns about such supernatural and sometimes frightening critters. The werewolf in this tale, however, is not an entirely vicious monster; he’s also a human who is appalled by his darker side, and wants to make amends. This is also one of those folk tales about the importance of keeping a secret, and the sometimes dire consequences of failing to do so-- a story somewhere between Ali Baba and Lohengrin. As it happens, this motif figures prominently in "The Bridge and the Dream", a Middle Eastern story that we're currently preparing for our new production that opens this summer.

We just spent a week conducting a residency at Holy Family School in Jacksonville, Florida, and what a memorable week it was. After presenting two performances Monday morning, we settled in for a week of teaching workshops in theatre arts, writing, mask making, folk dancing and other skills related to our final project: a performance by the entire student body of our story of "How the Ice Cream Cone Was Invented". That's right: we turned what is normally a 2-person story into a 452-person story.

While we were in Florida, we returned to St. Augustine and the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, with its specimens of all 23 known species of crocodilian (the only facility in the world to have all of them). This time, something new has been added: Crocodile Crossing, a zip-line/ canopy tour above the reptiles. They might look up at you eagerly hoping you'll fall, but it’s quite secure. Good thing: these fanged beasts may not be quite as terrifying as werewolves, but they’re close.

Happy Listening,

Dennis (Narrator, Farmer, Animals)and Kimberly (Wife, Werewolf, Neighbors, Animals)

"The Girl Who Married a Snake" is from Bhutan, an Asian country that borders China and India. The tale bears a certain resemblance to the Frog Prince story types common in Europe, except that even when the good guys live happily ever after, the story continues until the bad guys get their comeuppance. We present it especially for Chinese New Year, on Feb. 10, when the Year of the Snake comes slithering in.

We come to you from Stone Mountain Park, Georgia. Stone Mountain is not exactly a mountain, but it is one huge rock, and only about 10 percent of it is actually what you see jutting up some 800 feet above the ground. You can hike up to the top (we did) or you can take a funicular car (we did). That's one of those bus-size cars suspended from a cable.

Stone Mountain has many fun activities during the summer months, but during this time of year, about the only thing available is Snow Mountain, where you can go snow tubing in 70 degree weather (we did). And marvel at the largest bas-relief in the world, a 90 foot by 190 foot carving of three Confederate leaders.

Happy Listening!
Dennis (Woodcutter, Priest, Prince, Neighbor) and Kimberly (Narrator, Snakes, Daughters)

"The Long Winter" is an appropriately seasonal tale from the Dene tribe of Canada. The Dene tribe is often called the Slavey tribe, because they were sometimes enslaved by their enemies, the Cree. Similar to our popular Zuni story we call "Coyote and Eagle", this nature myth about rescuing warmth (in the case of the Zuni myth it's the sun itself) from a weather thief is a charming explanation of the cycle of seasons.

We come to you from the North Pole (which looks suspiciously like South Carolina at the moment), where we're busy feeding Santa's reindeer, outfitting his sleigh and sewing holes in his gift bag. Have a happy holiday season, and we look forward to seeing you in 2013.

Happy Listening!

Dennis (Narrator, Frog, Fox, First Cub) and Kimberly (Narrator, Duck, Eagle, Mama Bear, Second Cub)

Though it's not really a holiday story, "The Drum" from India seems suitable for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, with its theme of giving and gratitude. It's about a different kind of little drummer boy, who brightens the lives of many people with his generosity and creative use of a barter economy. And in the process, he gets what he wants most himself.

We come to you from Wilmington, Delaware, where we're performing at the main library for about the fifth or sixth time (but who's counting). We've weathered out the first blizzard of the season, as well as Frankenstorm Sandy, which made it risky for us to drive into and out of New York City to do a performance at a school. But we made it!

Happy Holidays and Happy Listening,

Dennis (Narrator, Cooking Woman, Potter, Husband, Robbery Victim, Wedding Guest) and Kimberly (Mother, Boy, Wife, Drummer)

The husband is disgruntled because he has to go to work every day, while the wife gets to stay home. So they decide to trade places. It sounds like the premise for a reality TV show, but it's the basis of “The Husband Who Was to Mind the House”, an old story from Norway that has at least inspired many sitcom episodes. It was first told in the days when it was rare for the wife to go out and work; but then, as now, housework was a fulltime job in its own right.

We come to you from eastern Massachusetts, where we've been spending some time performing at our favorite Halloween haunted house, Barrett's Haunted Mansion. We also performed recently at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, and were able to absorb the vibrant Halloween atmosphere of Witch City once again. Attending one of our performances was fellow podcaster Clinton of Comedy 4Cast, who strolled around town with us, as we took in a couple of haunted house tours.

Speaking of scary things and Halloween if you would like to read a scary story drop by our website to read A Ghost Story from Gettysburg.

Happy Listening!

Dennis (Husband, Cow) and Kimberly (Narrator, Wife, Pig)

From the swamp country of the Southeastern U.S. comes the story “Wiley and the Hairy Man”, an African-American trickster tale, especially for the Halloween season. It's about a boy named Wiley, who's rather wily, and uses his wiles and wits to outsmart The Hairy Man, who is rather hairy and spooky, with the help of his mother. Wiley's mother, not The Hairy Man's.

We come to you from Braintree, Massachusetts, just south of Boston, and a little farther south of Salem, where we'll be performing in the height of haunting season.

We talk about WaterFire, a summer event in Providence that we attended recently. Every year since 1994, this series of Saturday evenings in downtown Providence features fire on the water, originally conceived as installation art by local sculptor Barnaby Evans. It's grown into a major event with entertainment, concessioners, and living statues. As well as huge crowds of people having a good time.

Our thanks to LaVar Burton and Book People Unite for helping us promote reading and literature. Call us and tell us how you pick a book (800) 429-6576. We might play your message on our next podcast.

Happy Listening,
Dennis (Narrator, Wiley, Dogs) and Kimberly (Mother, Hairy Man, Dogs)

Read Along Read the story as you listen at the Act!vated web site

By special request from a fan, we bring you Hans Christian Andersen's beloved fable about judging people (or fowl) by their plumage. It's been the subject of songs and films -- Disney adapted it for the screen twice. In our version, as a further reminder of how uncool it is to tease other people, or talking ducks, for being different, we refer to him as the Somewhat Less Than Attractive Duckling.

This story has much in common with The Knee-High Man, which is part of our current production. It also has much in common with Hans Christian Andersen's own life, which turned out to be more glorious than people ever expected.

We come to you from Massachusetts, where we are winding down our summer tour. We just met up with our son Zephyr, who came to one of our performances, and then that night we saw him perform in Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". Our own little (non-ugly) duckling who's earned his swan wings.

Happy Listening!

Dennis (Narrator, Mother Duck, Farmer, Swan One, Wapiti, Other Animals) and Kimberly (Narrator, Duckling, Swan Two, Wife, Chicken, Cat, Other Animals)

August is the month for peaches, with the month being designated as Peach Month and August 24 as Pie Day. What better time to present the story of “Momotaro, the Peach Boy”, from Okayama Prefecture in Japan.

We come to you from Philadelphia, where we are making a repeat appearance at the Central Library. We performed the show one day after hiking 12 miles in Philadelphia's Wissahickon Park and two days after a return engagement at the James V. Brown Library in Williamsport.

Since our last podcast we have presented a flurry of performances in Arkansas and North Carolina before arriving in Pennsylvania. And in between shows we took the time to visit Elsewhere, a fabulous museum (of sorts) in Greensboro, NC. Formerly a thrift store, Elsewhere consists of a curious collection of old oddments that the visitor is welcome to touch and play with.

We also raced the turtles, fluttered with butterflies and roared at animated dinosaurs at Clyde Peeling's Reptileland in Pennsylvania.

Here's hoping that your summer is peachy keen.

Happy Listening,
Dennis (Narrator, Old Man, Inu the dog, Kiji the pheasant, Oni the ogre) and Kimberly (Narrator, Old Woman, Momotaro, Saru the monkey)

Like the Cadillac, the ice cream cone has an exalted place in American culture. So it's appropriate, we suppose, that we are near the famous Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX bringing you the story of how the ice cream cone may have been invented at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.

Our characters are based on actual individuals supposedly involved in the development of this iCone (that's our word for an iconic cone): Charles Menches, the former acrobat and circus manager who was the alleged inventor; Estelle Bordeaux, the daughter of a steamboat captain and the object of Charles' affection; and Earnest Hamwi, a Lebanese immigrant who was selling zalabia (a waffle-like sweet from which the cones may have been invented).

Like the fair itself, the invention of the cone was the stuff of legend - so nobody knows exactly what the real story is. But we like the version of our tale, because it shows what can happen when you "dream big".

Which just happens to be the theme of of the summer reading programs at libraries across the country. Which happens to be why we're performing this story at many of them. Which is why we happen to be in Amarillo, having just opened our new production in Albuquerqe, and now headed to our next performances in Arkansas. As for the reason we stand on our hands when we visit a place like The Cadillac Ranch... well, we just don't have a rational explanation for that.

Happy Listening,
Dennis (Charles and Buford) and Kimberly (Estelle and Ernie) Goza

It's Cherry Blossom Time! We've been spotting more of these colorful blossoms this spring, all over the country, than we have any other year. The custom of celebrating their appearance comes from Japan, so we bring you a Japanese story that is supposed to explain how the tradition got started.

We're back in our old stomping grounds in Northern California, after a long and eventful drive from Arkansas, mostly on (sometimes muddy) backroads- including historic Route 66. Our adventures included horseback riding in Oklahoma, exploring the ruins of a 400-year-old mission in New Mexico, and stopping in the old mining town of Oatman, Arizona where wild burros roam the streets. And in Tehachapi, California, we visited Indian Point Ranch, a prime producer of ostriches, and fed some of Big Bird's distant cousins.

Now we're having the last few performances of our current production, "World Tales", and getting ready for our next show.

Happy Listening!
Dennis (Kindly Man, Mean Man, Prince) and Kimberly (Narrator, Kindly Woman, Mean Woman, Dog)