A Ball of Yarns

Charlie Miller and Emily Tarquin of Off-Center @ The Jones know well the value of storytelling — and of touching people’s hearts and making them cry or laugh out loud through shared experiences. But their idea of pairing naked stories with such unlikely elements as aerial dancers, puppeteers, actors, music...

By Susan Froyd

March 6, 2014

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Charlie Miller and Emily Tarquin of Off-Center @ The Jones know well the value of storytelling — and of touching people’s hearts and making them cry or laugh out loud through shared experiences. But their idea of pairing naked stories with such unlikely elements as aerial dancers, puppeteers, actors, music and video to flesh it all out in unexpected ways? Miller calls it “artistic matchmaking" — and even now, he’s not 100 percent certain how it’s going to turn out.

He and Tarquin will find out, along with the rest of us, when Lived/Re-Lived, a collaboration with Andrew Orvedahl and Robert Rutherford of the Narrators — a monthly showcase of local celebs telling stories on changing themes — opens tonight at the Jones Theatre. Three of the series’ best storytellers — playwright/performer Jeff Campbell, Denver Zine Library director Kelly Shortandqueer and comic Timmi Lasley — will share their real-life yarns, while Off-Center’s tailored stagecraft and shenanigans go on around them.

“I love when we work on things that surprise even us!” Tarquin says of the experiment. “We always try to work with a bunch of local people, and it’s going to be cool to see how they’ve expanded on the stories. This is an exciting show for us!”

Lived/Relived kicks off at 8:30 p.m. at the Jones, in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, with Rutherford hosting, and continues at the same time the next two Fridays, March 14 and 21. Admission is $15; visit denveroffcenter.org or call 303-893-4100 for information and reservations.
Fridays, 8:30 p.m. Starts: March 7. Continues through March 21, 2014

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Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

Contact: Susan Froyd

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