'home' is where the slam is

by Owen Grey

Max&Dylans, lovely hosts

Upstairs at Max and Dylans

Home means different things to different people. For some, it's where they grew up. For others, it's where they are now. For others still, it's something they make for themselves. Ten storytellers told us what home meant to them as they competed in the massmouth “Home” Story Slam co-hosted by ArtsEmerson at Max & Dylan's Kitchen Bar in Downtown Crossing. Inspired by working on You Better Sit Down: Tales from My Parents' Divorce, Julia Propp and Sara Bookin-Weiner of ArtsEmerson wondered about other people's stories. Their neighbor and massmouth's good friend, Bob Goldman of Goulston & Storrs told them about massmouth.  After several planning sessions with co-founder Andrea Lovett, the third floor of Max & Dylan's was buzzing as Norah Dooley took the mic. She introduced, story slams and our judges who were from ArtsEmerson and some of the Civilians and Emerson students who were cast members of You Better Sit Down. Then she began pulling names from the hat. The stories were by turns intense and funny. All were touching.

Julia Propp

Among the stories we heard about Julia's husband who turned their small apartment into a costume shop and how she learned to let go and learn to love never knowing how her husband would be dressed when she came home. Robin Maxfield told her story of searching for a place to call home, finally finding it in an apartment where, for the first time in her life, when she left something on a counter or a table, it would be where she left it when she came home. From Greg Hather we heard about hippies making homes in trees outside his window. And I told the story of the first poem that had ever hit home. Liz Appleby told us about her new home. For the past year, she's been living in New Hampshire. And she's learned that home is a mental state. From deers hanging in the neighbor's yard (and outside her window) to bears attacking bear feeders, Liz gave us a sense of what it's like to live – and to want to die – in the “Live Free or Die” State. She took home the Audience Choice Award.

(l.to r.) Liz Appleby, Ben Walsh and David Briola

Emerson College grad student and erstwhile  massmouth host, HR Britton, told about schlepping from one very small Brooklyn apartment to another even smaller one and the relationships how relationships change with space, and finding home in a cup of coffee. Originally from Cincinnati, Ben Walsh grew up a Reds fan. His mother taught him that no team would ever be as great as the 1975 and 1976 Cincinnati Reds. Although a few Bostonians may disagree with that, he made us feel what it was like to cheer on the home team. He told us how he felt in his Wiffle Ball league when his team took the championship and he was able to bring his own golden fleece home. This was Ben's first time competing in a Story Slam. His story won second place.

David Briola, Semi-Finalist in the 2010-2011 massmouth season, told us about feeling unsafe in his home as a boy. He remembered one day his father trying to force an apple down his mother's throat and, though he was only five years old, running to his mother's aid. He told us what it felt like to hold her as she cried and he cried too. But the violence continued. He told us of the night he realized that violence had found a home in his heart and how he knew then that he had to change his life. David took first place and again earned a spot in the Semi-Finals in the 2011-2012 massmouth season.

Owen Greyhas been telling stories his whole life. He has found a home with massmouth and the Greater Boston storytelling scene. Watch him compete during this season."  Here are some links to a few more massmouth slams:
The Precinct • THUR November 10th 7-10 "pranked"
Doyle's • SUN November 13th 7-9pm "obsession"
The Back Page • TUE November 15th 6:30-9 "where I'm from"
Club Passim • MON November 21st 7-9pm "idols"
Doyle's • SUN December 11th 7-9pm "gifts"
First Night • SAT December 31st 8-10:30PM "starting over"
2 shows at the Hynes Auditorium 2012