John Martin teaches teens to stand up for anyone being bulled. He will share an episode from his own life in Long Island's local storytelling show

SMITHTOWN, NY, UNITED STATES, February 16, 2015 /EINPresswire.com/ -- John Martin, a Senior Public Health Educator for the Suffolk County Dept of Health joins an exciting line-up of Long Island professionals sharing a story from their own experience in the next performance of (mostly) TRUE THINGS, Long Island's first local Moth-style storytelling show, on Saturday February 28, 7 pm, at Performing Arts Studio of New York, 224 E. Main St. Port Jefferson, NY. Tickets are $10, available at the door or online at Brown Paper Tickets. This show has a unique twist: Four storytellers and only one of them is telling the unvarnished truth. By the end of the evening, the whole truth comes out, with the help of the audience.
Martin uses a range of creative experiences like improvisation and storytelling in the ground-breaking program "Healthy Communication and Bullying Prevention; A Peer Education program for secondary students" he designed and implements in Suffolk County schools. The program gives teens the skills and knowledge they need to help others who are targeted for bullying, and they are lining up to participate. He believes in the power of stories to transform both teller and listener. "To gather together, strangers, and with civility and culture, agree to listen intently to a story and then analyze the story as a group, there is, to me, no greater human experience," he explains. "Listening is a lost art. We generally are waiting to speak rather than listen. We see someone through what is said and not said." He is training students to take an emotional risk and to recognize that they are changing the entire group when they do. Live storytelling is a vital expression of that emotional risk. "We acknowledge that the storytellers are at the edge of their comfort zone and are walking the edge any way. To celebrate someone getting up and telling a story, a story with a purpose, with a time limit, with insights, personal to that person, can not fail to help someone in their own predicaments."
Martin will be joined onstage by:

Stevie GB, an award-winning comic, actor and speaker, and regular in the Long Island Comedy Festival. He has performed at The Borgata, Catch A Rising Star, The Paramount as well as countless other venues with comedy legends like Louie Anderson, Kevin Meaney, Rob Schneider, Kevin Pollak, and others. His production of "Groucho: A Life In Revue" about the comedy legend Groucho Marx, was featured on the cover of New York Newsday Part 2 and received rave reviews across Long Island. He won the award for Best Actor at the 2012 Luminaries for his role in the short film Suffocating In Suburbia, and is a popular emcee and speaker.

Rosemary Flanagan is a retired social service worker who has performed in Long Island theater for the last 16 years and has a long-standing interest in storytelling. She has begun to develop and perform stories from her own life.

Toni Munna has nearly 30 years acting and directing experience on stages across Long Island and New York. Favorite roles include Bella (Lost in Yonkers), Rose (Dancing at Lughnasa) and Dr. Livingstone (Agnes of God). She has organized and directed seven productions of The Vagina Monologues to support organizations that work to end violence against women and girls. As the first Teeny Awards Coordinator in 2002, Toni helped develop the high school theatre arts recognition program at East End Arts. She ran it for 9 years, and it is still going strong. She also helped Islip Arts Council launch their own version.

HOST: Jude Treder-Wolff created (mostly) TRUE THINGS to bring the storytelling experience to Long Island audiences. She is a consultant/trainer working with organizations and groups in New York and around the country through her company Lifestage, Inc, producer of (mostly) TRUE THINGS, a writer/performer, singer and creative arts psychotheapist. Her story "Winter Storm" - about a Christmas Eve blizzard, sisters, and the curative power of candy - was featured on the 2013 Christmas Day episode of Kevin Allison's ground-breaking podcast RISK! Her solo storytelling Crazytown: my first psychopath was selected for the 2013 Midtown International Theater Festival, the 2012 Chicago and San Francisco Fringe Festivals, and performed at The Pit-The Peoples Improv, Actors Theatre Workshop and Broadway Comedy Club in NYC, The Charles B Wang Center at Stonybrook University, and events and venues around the country.

6313664265
email us here
Jude Treder-Wolff
Lifestage, Inc

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.