In story, the main purpose is entertainment. Using a published piece, you will recreate and retell a story of some form. The piece can be humorous or serious, and it can be either a full story or an excerpt from a longer work.
In story, you can move around in the space provided, including sitting on the floor, standing, pacing, etc., but you cannot use a chair or any other props.
The maximum time for story is ten minutes. Stories should have an introduction with a background to the performance and the title and author of your piece.
Tips and Tricks:
Although serious stories (such as horror stories) are allowed, they are much more difficult to perform. If you elect to do a serious story, keep in mind that your audience will be seeing performances that are much more light-hearted, whimsical, etc. Remember that the main purpose is to entertain, so if you can deliver a serious story in a way that captures your audience’s attention, then you have a better chance of being successful.
Of all the events, story has the least number of rules and stipulations and thus the most amount of wiggle room. Have fun with your story! If you are having fun performing your piece, chances are your audience will have fun watching it.
You can pull your story piece from several sources, but keep in mind that it must be a story. This means there should a clear exposition, conflict, climax, and resolution. Think back to Freitag’s pyramid that you learn about in English classes. If your story doesn’t have all of these components (exposition, rising acting, climax, falling action, denouement), then you may need to choose a different piece.
Although not required, several stories are children-oriented, coming from picture books, fairy tales, etc. If you’re having trouble finding a story, check out the children’s section of your local library.
Similarly, it may help to imagine that you are performing your story to a bunch of children. How would you entertain them? How would you keep their attention? If able, try practicing in front of children to learn what works and what doesn’t.
Be as silly as you can with this. Like other acting events, you should distinguish characters with different voices, stances, facial expressions, etc. However, you don’t have to be as concerned with being “realistic” since the goal of story is rooted in entertainment over realism.
In story, the majority of your piece is narration with some dialogue and characters, and the narrator should maintain eye contact with the audience. As a result, the narrator should become a character. You can use your own voice or movements, but make them exaggerated and entertaining for the audience. On the other hand, you can create a separate voice, stance, etc. for the narrator. As long as it is lively and entertaining, you will keep your audience’s attention.
For more detailed practicing tips, check out the KHSSL handbook (Story starts on page 37).