BWW Previews: STAND UP STORIES – MULTICULTURAL TALES TO LIVE BY at Boxtales Theater Company

One of Santa Barbara's most unique performance art collaboratives is the inimitable Boxtales Theater Company, whose integration of mask work and methodical, movement-based storytelling makes for mesmerizing re-creations of mythology and folktales. Their upcoming show, Stand Up Stories--Multicultural Tales to Live By, opens at Santa Barbara's Lobero Theater this weekend, and runs for two shows only: Friday, September 29, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, October 1, at 2 p.m.

Stand Up Stories is a collection of parables that brings to life stories from the Greek, Chinese, Native American, and African traditions. Some of the stories may be familiar, such as the Greek myth of Phaethon, the boy who rides Helio's chariot through the sky to prove he's of divine parentage, but others, such as The Stonecutter, The Boy Who Fed Eagles, and The Lion's Whiskers are likely new stories for the family to enjoy. The Stonecutter is a Chinese folktale of a man who, with the help a mountain spirit, fulfills a dream of becoming very rich--but finds he still isn't satisfied. The Boy Who Fed Eagles, a story from the Tlingit and Haida tribes of the Pacific North West, is about honoring tribal values. African folklore from the Amhara Tribe, The Lion's Whiskers, tells of a woman who learns the patience for parenthood through the task of plucking three whiskers from a lion. Stand Up Stories--Multicultural Tales to Live By features Boxtales performers Michael Andrews, Marie Ponce, and Matt Tavianini, with direction by Andrews, Tavianini, and master storyteller, James Donlon. These tales will be accompanied by live music with instruments corresponding to each tale's cultural origin, and will showcase the mask artistry of Anne Chevrefils and Lindsay Rust.

A long-enduring member of the Santa Barbara theatre community, Boxtales has been creating original folktale-inspired performances for two decades. Stand Up Stories marks their 17th production. Artistic Director Michael Andrews describes this collection of stories as using "humor and powerful storytelling to remind us no matter where we're from or what we look like, we're all people and we ALL have something to learn." Stand up Stories is part of the Lobero's Youth and Community Outreach Program, and has received support form the Children's Theatre Foundation of America; Santa Barbara Bowl's Education Outreach Program; the Ann Jackson Family Foundation; the Towbes Foundation; the California Arts Council; the Santa Barbara Foundation; and the Arts Mentorship Program.

Boxtales Theatre Company Presents
Stand Up Stories - Multicultural Tales to Live By
At the Lobero Theater

Friday, 9/29, 7 p.m.
Sunday, 10/1 2 p.m.

TICKETS: https://www.lobero.org/events/boxtales-stand-stories/

$25 - Adult; $12 - Child ; $15 - Student/Senior

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