The Story Pirates

This weekend I went to see The Story Pirates with my friend Stephen Barbara, agent extraordinaire. For those of you who haven't heard of them The Story Pirates are a group of actors, musicians and teachers who go around to schools, lead creative writing seminars and then preform the children's work as skits. It's brilliant and oh so funny. I went to the adult version (8pm show, no children there) but I am itching to go to their younger performance. The show was sensational on every level. It was funny, heartwarming (especially a skit by a first grader called "I Like To Go A Lot to School"), not to mention just spot-on. The talent in this group is extraordinary and what they are doing for these children is simply remarkable. It made me smile when a child came on the screen during their video montage and said The Story Pirates made him feel like a really famous author. Is there anything better than that?

There were so many moments that stood out from the performance but the real meat was, of course, the constant knowledge that these skits and stories had actually been written by children. It never ceases to surprise me how unbelievably imaginative, perceptive and creative children are. We may laugh as a child writes "I like to go a lot to school" but the earnestness and heart behind those words is simply stunning. There was a story about a vampire, one about wetting the bed, another about what it means to be a best friend and one about a child who grows money out of his head. I can only imagine the pride these children must feel seeing their stories come to life like that. I'm sure it is akin to what a "really famous writer" feels when they sit down in a theater to see their adapted novel on screen. How cool that The Story Pirates are giving children the opportunity to feel the same.

I cannot say enough good things about this group and I look forward to letting you all know how the younger performance is. In the meantime, happy weekend!