Things Nell Tells

Easier said than done — which is precisely why Phoenix performed at the British Library on Monday,hoping to give the audience an idea of what they could expect from her storytelling workshop scheduled for the next day.

One would assume that the exercise of storytelling would be made difficult by today’s diminishing attention span. “Everything happens so fast these days. A cut in a film happens in an average of seconds,whereas earlier,consider a Hitchcock film,the scenes were much longer in comparison,” says Phoenix,adding,“But I notice during storytelling sessions that children and adults relax in a way to see the images flow. So,the ability is still there.” Phoenix makes this happen by incorporating songs,dance,tonal modulation and acting to present a concrete listening experience.

Phoenix draws a lot from her years as an actress. “I worked as an actress for several years till my children were born,” she says. She shares an interesting story on her initiation into storytelling. “My son went to pre-school at two-and-a-half,and the teacher asked me if I could do something for her class. I asked what and she said,‘How about telling a story?’ And she requested me to do so the next day. I think she meant reading from a book,but being a performer,I stayed up the entire night and put together an act,” says Phoenix,who worked on Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde,which,she says,“is not a traditional story,but a literary story.”

“I was performing it for two-and-a-half-year-olds. So,during the story,when the snow came down,the teacher and I brought down a white sheet upon the children and they would all shiver underneath it,eventually to come out of the snow as flowers,” she explains. The children were captivated by the performance,which left the teachers and Phoenix amazed.

“The teachers said,‘You’re quite good at that’ and it came out better than I had thought. I was recommended to other pre-schools,and as my children grew up,I was performing at primary schools. So one can say my art form grew with my family,” says Phoenix.

Now,Phoenix tells stories to adults as part of the thriving storytelling scene in England,and to children; and meets a mixed audience at festivals,such as the one at British Library.