Have They Got a Tale for You in Ojai

Old-fashioned storytelling may be a dying art in the age of YouTube, but the organizers of the 11th annual Ojai Storytelling Festival don't intend to let it go down without a fight. For the last 10 years, they have convened in the picturesque valley town's intimate Libbey Bowl to host what has become one of the genre's most well-known festivals. There in the shadow of the Topa Topa Mountains, the spring air redolent with the fragrance of orange blossoms some of the world's most entertaining storytellers take to the stage to dazzle attendees with the oldest art form around.

“One of the biggest misconceptions is that people just stand up and read books," says Brian Bemel, artistic director and founder of Ojai's festival, which runs Thursday thru Sunday. “That's why I've started using the term theater of the spoken word,' because they don't read, they perform the stories. You know the theater term the third wall'? In storytelling, it's more like a bridge. It's a very personal experience. Because you know each person is creating the pictures in their own minds, based on their experiences and what the teller is telling."

Ojai's festival has a little something for everyone. “We always have a smorgasbord of storytellers," says Bemel. “There are always a couple things you wouldn't see at most storytelling festivals." This year, award-winning puppeteer Hobey Ford will bring his cast of unusual rod puppets to the festival's Saturday morning Family Fest. And Ugandan New York transplant Samite will share his flute-driven story songs in a special evening concert. Plus, one of the festival's most popular events, Naughty Tales in the Tent, returns for the 21 and older set.

Busting the myth that storytelling is just for kids, Naughty Tales, which is accompanied by wine and dessert, features three of the festival's most popular tellers spinning yarns guaranteed to cause blushes as well as laughter. The ribald titles include Nancy Donoval's “My Pastey Collection," David Gonzalez's “Why She Moans" and Willy Claflin's “Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll."

Claflin, whose humorous stage presence is enhanced by a moose puppet named Maynard, returns to the Ojai Festival for the second year in a row. A former teacher and folk musician with a background in American and French literature, Claflin started off using the prop to tell stories to kids. “Oddly enough, over many years, it's developed to the point where Maynard mostly tells stories to adult audiences now," he says. “His stories have gotten very sophisticated."

Sophistication and variety are at the core of the festival. One of the few rules is that each story must be new to the Ojai audience. “The variety is incredible," says Bemel. “There's comedy, there's suspense, there's mystery. Each teller has a totally different style." One-woman band Angela Lloyd uses rhythms created on autoharp and washboard to underscore her stories, while award-winning Japanese storyteller Motoko incorporates mime into her repertoire of Asian folk tales.

In addition to the multiple storytelling sessions, a slew of hands-on workshops adds spice to the schedule, including a kids' session on shadow puppets and an all-ages one on origami, giving the estimated 3,000 attendees plenty of opportunities for inspiration. “One of the reasons the festival's so popular is that people are attracted by the simplicity of one person telling a story," says Bemel. “We've gotten away from simple things in our high-tech lives."