Martha Tate, Storyteller
Storyteller of the Year: Alternate
Storytelling is an ancient art form that has experienced a recent revival in popularity and usage. For millennium people have spoken through story to inspire, educate, transmit values, promote healing, or to simply entertain. Whether we are moved to tears or to laughter, we are moved. It is often my pleasure to do both. Please see below the varied repertoire of stories which I have performed in storytelling festivals, living rooms, retreats, churches, and schools throughout the Southeast. Some are humorous, others are serious. Most are both. All are committed to the promotion of health and healing for the listener.
If you are interested in including storytelling in your meeting, workshop, synagogue or church group, holiday or special occasion celebrations, please contact me. We can discuss the special needs of your group and find the perfect story to enhance your experience.
Click on the + below for descriptions:
These stories are told in character, or should I say, in “quite a character”.
Harrington’s Mother is a Southern, aristocratic woman who people from all parts of the country seem to recognize. She is both humorous and human. While some stories are purely hilarious entertainment, others include a dramatic twist, which reveals the character’s soul and humanity.
People who had loved to laugh at Harrington’s Mother find themselves learning to love her as well. Teens to adult audience.
What began as one epic story of the Life of Jesus from his mother, Mary’s perspective, has become a collection of stories.
Each story is my imagined interpretation of Mary, her life, and times. While highly spiritual and emotive, many stories in the collection also include historical and archaeological facts surrounding the Biblical accounts.
This collection includes several stories that are especially meaningful during the Christmas and Lenten seasons. Enjoyed by ages 10-100.
Affirmations:
“What a gripping and impressive presentation you gave to the Timothy class!
You portray Mary quite convincingly, and I could have heard a pin drop at any time.”
June Ferguson
“Your Mary visit to Banquet has been talked about over and over.
Maybe the reason it was so compelling was that it did more than just present a familiar story. Instead, it caused each of us to consider the truth of Jesus as a real person, the son of a real mother who did not have the advantage of hindsight to understand who he really was.
Yet, she had the extraordinary experience of raising him to adulthood and releasing him to his full purpose.”
Jeanie Cook
“I think we are all a bit speechless with Martha’s expressions of faith through the eyes of Mary.
I continue to contemplate and ponder the depth, passion, intelligence, and wisdom she portrayed as the Mother of Jesus.”
Marcia Gaddis
These are stories from the Judeo-Christian perspective and are, again, my original telling of traditional stories from the Old and New Testament. Many stories are cross-generational, written with ages 3 to 100 in mind. When told in multi-generational groups, bonding is often facilitated. “Ruth and Naomi-Two Women of Excellence” and “The Least Among You” are two examples of spiritual stories for adult audiences.
Affirmations:
“Martha, I thought your story, The Triumphant Journey, was one of the best I have ever heard. I cannot imagine how much research went into it.”
BJ Abraham
“Thank you is not adequate, but I thank you. We were captured in the moment.
We could feel ourselves on the road to Zion. We felt your feelings. You were solemn, yet could make us laugh. You were wise, yet questioning.
You were observant, yet reflective. You told the story in a way we will always remember and cherish.”
Marcia Gaddis
“What a wonderful lesson! You had us spellbound as we journeyed with you from Nazareth to Jerusalem as a child, a young woman an as a mother.
You skillfully wove Jewish tradition and geography into your trips to Passover.
As you took us from Nazareth, along the Jordan River and up to the campfires outside Jerusalem.
You reminded us of the reason for Passover.
And, sadly we were with you in Bethany as you vividly portrayed a mother’s feelings on the last trip with your son. You cast a spell on us. I was jolted when you were done.”
Betty Lee Kennedy
Geared for child audiences from 4 to 12, these traditional folk tales are retold with the occasional inclusion of rhyme or song. These stories are my original adaptations of traditional tales. They are interactive and lively.
These original adaptations of classic fairy tales are most enjoyed by ages 4 to 8. Cinderella and Snow White are told in costume and are best enjoyed by little girls. The others are for boys and girls alike.
Testimonials
Martha Tate is a master storyteller with a heart and a head full of wide-ranging, well-chosen, finely-crafted stories to share.Her words, her gestures, her welcoming, engaging presence draw her listeners into the world of the imagination where her stories may evoke riotous laughter, gentle tears, deep feelings, new perspectives on self and on life as they illumine (illuminate?) the many facets (that make us human/of our shared humanity).
Martha Tate’s graceful presence and smooth vocals weave together a rich tapestry of story.Her reassuring storytelling style consistently provides a comforting haven for the magic of story to unfold. Martha generously participated in an AIB Network televised program on stories reflecting the theme of light, and I am grateful that Martha brought to life an elegant tale reflecting the spiritual side of the Christmas holiday, a message that all too often gets lost in the commercialization of the holiday.
Martha is a gifted teller, and her stories never fail to move me – and to help me see the world around me with more open eyes.
I hope this note finds you well and in good spirits. As a first class storyteller you are gifted and brilliant as well as extraordinarily entertaining.I do hope to see any upcoming performances you give. My friends and I were the ones on the front row of the recent Roswell Tellebration and I had the pleasure of chatting with you afterwards. As we departed we spent the next 30 minutes discussing your story and how much we loved the humor and poignancy.
Take care and never stop your wonderful stories.
Martha is an exceptional entertainer with a repertoire of stories appropriate for a wide variety of occasions, venues and audiences, but more than that, she is an excellent tour guide and traveling companion who always takes her listeners on a memorable journey and always brings them safely home.
Martha, your storytelling was exceptional Sunday night. I am truly amazed at your talent.