We love stories.
One of the first things we remember from childhood is being told a story. We tell stories every day without even knowing it.
And the stories that we – sometimes inadvertently – tell about ourselves has fascinated Lynn Ferguson for years.
Which is why she’s created a show, Storyland, which arrives at Perth Theatre, Saturday September 9.
Lynn moved from Glasgow to LA in 2008, where she was writing for TV, but since then she has also become involved in the storytelling world. Part of her role is working with people to help them tell their story.
There’s always extraordinary in the “ordinary” but Lynn has dealt with some people with more unusual tales to tell, such as people emerging from cults. There’s even been a warlock!
Telling stories for Lynn is about getting to the truth and finding the democracy in it.
“There’s something in that line that ‘the truth only hurts if you’re sitting on it’,” she says.
The showed played at the Gilded Balloon in 2022 and this year and the Edinburgh Festival – with one big change.
Rather than inviting guests to take part, as she did last year, this year it was a solo show.
Clive Anderson helped shape Storyland
“The change actually happened during the run last year. It was one of the guests that made me see it,” Lynn reveals.
“[Television presenter] Clive Anderson was on one night and just before he came on the stage he said, ‘No one really wants to hear me. They want to hear the rest of the story’.
“I realised then what the nature of the show is – and that I was putting these guests in a very uncomfortable position. It’s been a solo show from then on.”
Even without audience participation it’s definitely participatory. It’s difficult not to think of your own stories as you watch – and that’s the point.
“One thing I came to realise is, pretty much everybody I know is struggling in some way at the moment, whether it’s to do with a decision that they’ve made or something that they’ve done. I felt that could be addressed in the show.
“I’m also so bored of people being devalued and I’m really sick of the fact that there’s maybe 15 to 20 people on the planet who are seen as being important and have something to offer and the rest of us just have to bow down and be grateful that they’re there.
“When I worked with people in LA initially, I was teaching them to do the right stories for an audience. As it went on there was a moment when you could see the audience relaxing with relief that they were being told the truth. What a difference that makes.”
After two years in Edinburgh, it was time to take the stories on the road around Scotland. Lynn talks about the importance of supporting all Scottish communities and making sure it isn’t completely centred around Edinburgh in August.
“Sometimes Edinburgh in August is filled with other people’s art which doesn’t really represent Scotland.
“Of course I’ve been away in America for so long that I don’t know if anybody will even want to come to see me – but I thought I should at least make the effort!”
AI ‘is a table or a sock’ says Lynn Ferguson
Scotland is a storytelling nation – it has an oral tradition celebrated in the Scottish Storytelling Centre, but our huge global influence has been disproportionate to our tiny size.
Will the bots put an end to that?
Most writers are circling AI suspiciously or preparing to storm its castle, but Lynn feels a bit more relaxed about it.
“I think AI is a table or a sock – it is nothing,” she says. “When you use it you see just how empty it is. We are nothing without others.”
Putting the show together has been almost an anti-write – going against everything Lynn has done as a screenwriter.
“The thing is about Storyland is that it is almost anti-story from the writer’s point of view. Usually when you’re writing something, you want it to be quite accomplished with lots of little bits of flair, but with this I almost had to do the opposite and leave the way clear for everyone else’s stories
“It all sounds quite complicated, but it all becomes clear in the theatre. I would have made life so much easier for myself if I had written a nice wee play.”
Lynn Ferguson presents Storyland at Perth Theatre on Saturday September 9 2023.
