Storytelling: sensibility at the heart of a project for children and adults

Marize Aparecida Bastos Freesz (photo) is a biochemical pharmacist in the Brazilian city of Juiz de Fora, in the state of Minas Gerais. She is a member of the Ivon Costa Spiritist Centre and works as a volunteer in the local Spiritist Movement – as a public speaker and a coordinator for online study groups. Her work focuses on the production of songs for evangelisation groups and storytelling for children and adults, as she explains in this interview:  

Where does your interest in storytelling come from?

I’ve always had a talent for performing arts, and I thought I could use my gifts to tell stories. I sing and I play the ukulele. I make a range of recreational material that I use for storytelling and I also work with puppets. When I first decided to get involved in storytelling, my aim was to develop my oratory skills and to get to know the books. I accepted that as a challenge, and I began in three different Spiritist Centres, continuing later online during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Did you think you would be able to use material from Spiritist books to achieve that?

I’ve always been passionate about reading and studying Spiritist books. Spiritist literature is very rich in stories for children and also for adults. I began selecting them with the intention of adapting them for the public. I’ve learned a great deal in this process, from a technical perspective and also from my interaction with the audience. It’s been very gratifying indeed.  

Do you think your knowledge of Spiritism has encouraged you to take on this task?

Yes! My background in Spiritism has been a major encouragement for me. I realised that I would be helping disseminate the Spiritist Teachings and would, at the same time, learn more about it. I felt the need to develop my talents. And in that process I’ve also learned as I studied the books. 

When you read or study books, do you often feel the urge to adapt them into stories for the public?

Not all stories that I read and study in Spiritist books can be adapted. To choose and adapt a story is a meticulous job. Furthermore, the storyteller needs to like and get involved in the story, and must feel whether it will be well received by the public or not. It’s a job that requires sensibility too and, in my case, a lot of creativity.     

What are the basic criteria that you use for stories that target different age groups?

My stories are always for a very wide age range. My public always includes children, young people, mothers and grandparents, all in the same room. From the beginning, that was a major challenge, which made me consider: how can I tell everyone the same story if their levels of understanding are so different and the language they use is also different? I then began using simpler language in my stories, but not children’s language. And the playful character of the performance was also of great help, as everyone got curious about the figures, the puppets and other props that I brought to the stage to help me tell the story. The music I use in the evangelisation groups for children is also appreciated. 

Among the recreation tools and props you use in your storytelling, which ones have a bigger impact on children and adults?

Kids and grown-ups love the puppets equally. The children often interact with them during the story and after it ends. They get closer and talk to the puppets and touch them. But not only the puppets, all props raise some form of interest: face masks with a smile, or expressions of anger or sadness; paper animals; PowerPoint projections; and shadow puppetry. It’s a new world for everyone, especially for the children. Once I did a storytelling session for 30 homeless people who had been learning the Gospel in one of the Spiritist Centres I went to. They loved it and interacted throughout the stories. 

How do the different age groups react to your storytelling?

Everyone is very receptive to the stories that I prepare, from those teaching the Gospel in Spiritist Centres, to young people, children and their mothers. And sometimes, their fathers and grandparents too. Each story takes 5 to 10 minutes maximum, and during this short time what I see before me are curious and focused eyes. Stories, after all, have the power to draw the attention of people. The feedback I get is positive. 

What is the most memorable moment from all your productions?

Once I told a Christmas story in a Spiritist Centre where there was a hyperactive child, a very agitated boy. During the story, he was quiet and when it was over, he interacted with the puppet that I had taken to tell the story. But he remained very calm. Another remarkable occasion was the project involving the homeless. I had never interacted with that audience. I learned a lot from that experience. 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

This is a very gratifying job, and we often have a lot of fun with the audience. Everyone enjoys a good story if it’s told with love. We are all storytellers, we have it in us, either when we tell our children a story or when we chat to our friends and family and describe something that has happened. Telling stories brings people together and creates good memories. And when we tell Spiritist stories, then we have an additional benefit, which is to learn more from the Spiritist Teachings.