Storyman Live!

Old stories never die, they just fade away till some storyteller breathes life into them again.

This old teller's old stories, however, will indeed die with him—unique, original—no one else can retell them. Time's winged chariot a-rattling in Stremba's ears,
he proposes to tell again these stories that no one else can. One LAST TIME. Or two.

___________________________________________________

Matthew-Daniel Stremba
The Only Stremba in Baltimore
storiesATstrembaDOTus
dyakuyouATyahooDOTcom

Consider hosting any one of the choices listed below. ("Me? HOW?")

Invite into your parlor friends, neighbors, colleagues, in-laws. Or arrange for an organization (parish, community association, book club, local library, the Moose, etc.) to feature a story as a special event, or as part of a special day, jubilees, grand farewells, or as a fundraiser. Then remember to summon Stremba.

Matthew-Daniel Stremba
The Only Stremba in the Baltimore Phonebook
(what's a "phonebook"?)

www.stremba.us
storiesATstrembaDOTus
dyakuyouATyahooDOTcom

A-1
A KISS IN BROOKLYN
When Walt Whitman Was
Little Walter

This quick "look" back at Whitman's early boyhood gently engages its audience in the narrative, (1) prompting a display of the man's poetry most never suspected they had knowledge of, and (2) recalling high-school teachers who've proved unforgettable, and (3) confounding all those who ever doubted canonical poetry could be fun.

A-2
BREAKING THE SPELL
Just What Did Bryant Do Beyond "Thanatopsis"?

This story plays with some seemingly inaccessible verse and actually finds delicious what you had thought was solemnly serious. If you've ever been put off by William Cullen Bryant's preachy "To a Waterfowl," you'll be amazed at the peachy pleasure you'll experience in Stremba's "Breaking The Spell."

B-1
PIDMANULA, SHE DID!
PIDVELA, TOO!

A classic Ukrainian folksong, easy enough anyone
can sing it—YES, YOU! Just a matter of ten minutes,
and an audience of no less than 20-25 women and men
will be able to join Stremba in singing "Ty kazala"
not only pronouncing it right but also understanding
what the heck the song's complaining about.

B-2
"PLOTIYU"—
SOLO IN THE FOREST
A Soviet Moment Out Of
the 1950s

A 15-minute presentation designed in a minimalist fashion featuring Stremba chanting words and lines of Old Church Slavonic with audience responding in brief bursts and several volunteers punctuating the flow with scripted lines.

B-3
HUNTING A SPOUSE
How Long Does It Take
To Get Married? or,
What Might You & I Have
In Common With Ivan Tsarevich &
Younger Arnold?

This story starts in real time in Baltimore City, leaps back into the antique era of a genuine Russian folktale, all the while having fun with the questions in the subtitle. The tale is an oral inheritance from the Urals not written down till the late 19th century. (Not suitable for children younger than 17.)

B-4
ДНО = DNO
GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF IT

AN ODDLY FUNNY story—it takes you, in the course of the narrative, to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, to Soviet Moscow, and includes, as well, a few moments in Old Japan—all on the eve of the demise of the USSR.

Among the characters in this presentation, these—Hennadyi, Matsuo Basho, Faina, Paula, Comrade Yanaev, and Mr & Mrs Gorbachev.

Your pleasure will even include having learned one Russian word and one peculiar piece of Russian grammar.

This and the following story were reprised for eight audiences in 2011 in cheerful observance of the 20th Anniversary of the Soviet Collapse (1991). Stremba had been in the USSR during Gorbachev’s last 18 months.

B-5
UNDERCOVER :
THE LAST JEW IN BUKHARA

CENTRAL ASIA’s ancient cities—through the ages—have powerfully drawn to their bosoms men from Europe, Britain, and North America. This storyteller as well. In the manner of those who preceded him to Bukhara, Stremba has his own 25-minute saga to publish—orally.

Appearing in this story are Fitzroy Maclean; Arminius Vambery; and the Emir's executioners; a working musician and his grandfather; and beggars and dervishes and schoolchildren.

C-1
SO TRICKLED THE WATERS OF JORDAN JUST NORTH OF WAVERLY

Stremba's Bride has known this old chestnut by various titles. Whichever, it's her favorite, and she insists on a reprise.

A still summer day, a scorcher, a Baltimore backyard garden under glaring sun—layered with memories of Ukrainian Epiphany rites—then hints of cosmogony hanging around and seeping out of the family compost heap—clash of traditions—stress of relationships.

The world abounds in odd ducks—and they make life such a joy. Among the odd-duck population—those who experience super-pleasure from reading aloud. And for such a minority, these parlor plays.


D-1
THE UNMARKED GRAVE
Soft-Boiled Detectives of
Old Baltimore

Once you've gathered your literate friends, let Stremba in your door with his scripts (parts for everyone) and his narrator-moderator skills (to keep things moving for an hour).

Detective Theodorick B. Hall, "Tod" to his friends and police colleagues, actually worked Baltimore City's streets for the last quarter of the 19th century. This "case" rests on several actual facts woven into a re-imagined early urban police force.

For more details on Mr. Hall, click on—
http://www.stremba.us/rescuing_a_baltimore_legend.html

D-2
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Poe & His Family
in 1830s Baltimore

This script, starting on Amity Street, offers reading-aloud lovers an opportunity to dip into classic overheated Poe poetry and prose while running with a fictive, equally overheated, over-the-top plot about EAP's early relationships with the gentler gender.

MORE ODD DUCKS—viz. individuals who thrive on spending leisure time (and even, shhh, work-hours) memorizing poems. Imagine! Of what use are these people and their secret or not-so-secret habits? Why,
a show, of course.

IF your neighborhood, parish, or work-place has such folks, THEN do consider putting them all in a nice safe spotlight for the rest of the unwashed to enjoy, praise, mock, commend, be inspired by. And invite Stremba to organize them all into a neat show—something resembling what the Irish in their small towns have been wont to do, calling it "an acoustical evening" : poem-recitation, a little music, some stories, more poems. Maybe even raise a bit of money for some cause, selfish or charitable.