Why Can’t Grownups Have Story Time?

It is cold outside. Snow dots the landscape. Smoke billows from chimneys. Stars light the way on Island roads as early as five o’clock. What better time, really, than to curl up with a good story.

But winters on the Island can also be lonely. The book as best friend is not always the best choice. Perhaps a better option would be to step back in time, to before the printed word when stories were told orally and in groups. The effect of one’s imagination snuggling up to others’ imaginations creating something alive and nourishing.

Tonight at 7 p.m. Islanders have the chance to take this journey with famed storyteller Susan Klein. She will be performing at Grace Church in Vineyard Haven following their weekly soup supper. The supper is free. Ms. Klein’s performance is $15.

The title of the event is Stories for a Starry Night. Ms. Klein will perform alone with no props or costume. But she will not really be alone. She will be surrounded by a community of the imagination.

The art of Ms. Klein’s storytelling resides in her ability to create not just stories for an audience but rather with the audience. This does not mean participation in the literal sense. Instead it refers to, as she puts it, her “third eye merging with everyone else’s third eye. A kind of heart to heart experience.”

Ms. Klein’s material has its roots in folklore, myth, fairytales and autobiography. Her book Through a Ruby Window recounts tales of growing up on Martha’s Vineyard.

Ms. Klein will not know for sure which stories from her repertoire she will tell until the day of her performance. And even then the itinerary is subject to change based on the moment to moment experience of the evening. The only certainty is that those in attendance will be in the hands of a master storyteller. Ms. Klein performs her stories by following the images of the story rather than the words. The result is that no story can ever be told the same way twice. For those of us who often declaim there is nothing new anymore, this is an opportunity to experience something unique.

The performance is a 10-years-old and up event. This is not due to explicit content but rather because a performance is created with a specific age group in mind, mostly relating to the depth of attention necessary. “The storyteller cocreates an ambience with the audience,” Ms. Klein says. “But [with vastly different age groups] this doesn’t have a chance to come into being.”

Ms. Klein has received a circle of excellence award presented by the National Storytelling Network and a creative living award given annually by the Permanent Endowment Fund of Martha’s Vineyard. She is also the author of the recently published book, Martha’s Vineyard: Now and Zen.