Services > Workshops > Adapting Stories for Re-Telling

Timeless Tales: Bringing Yesterday’s Stories into Today

Target Participants:

Open to both novice and experienced storytellers in English who wish to improve their storytelling

Duration:

2 sessions, three hours per session

No. of Participants:

Min: 10 people; Max: 20 people

Pre-Workshop Preparation:

  • Participants who are able to communicate fluently in English are welcome.
  • Please have ready 2 Aesop’s fables that you would like to adapt and tell

Notes for Organisers:

  • Please make available a fair-sized room that allows participants to move about freely (for interactive games) and sit on the floor or on chairs in two or three large circles (for storytelling-related activities).
  • Please provide a large whiteboard and pens as well as access to computer/computer projection to show PowerPoint slides.
  • Please make copies of hand-outs that will be emailed to prior to the workshop. The hand-outs are to be given to the participants at the end of the workshop.

Ancient folk tales, fables, myths and legends are excellent stories to retell in themselves. Yet the impact of these stories on some of your listeners may increase if you could somehow reset the story in a modern context. Using selected Aesop’s fables as a starting point, Timeless Tales aims to share with you some tips and tricks of how to adapt yesterday’s stories into tales that you can tell with flair for today’s audiences.

Areas Covered:

Session #1: Adapting

  • Why adapt tales?
  • When is adapting appropriate?
  • Different types of adaptation
  • Process of adaptation: Adapting a tale

Session #2: Telling

  • Review of your adaptation
  • How to tell your adaptation aloud and polish it for performance
About the Facilitator

Verena Tay has spent more than 25 years acting, directing and writing for Singaporean English-language theatre. She has three published collections of plays and is now working on her debut novel and first volume of short stories. In addition, Verena is an active storyteller-cum-storytelling coach and a co-founder of MoonShadow Stories. Possessing an MA in Voice Studies (Central School of Speech and Drama, 2005) and an MA in English Literature (National University of Singapore, 1993), she has been helping people to improve their communication skills since 2001 and currently teaches voice, speech and presentation skills at various local institutions. For more information about Verena, please visit www.verenatay.com.