Kiyoko McCrae
Junebug Productions’ work has always revolved around storytelling. It has been built on stories and its practices continue to be passed on through a strong oral tradition. The story circle process was created by members of Free Southern Theater (FST), Junebug’s predecessor, as a way to better engage with audiences following performances. The process was further refined by Junebug Productions and subsequently through its collaboration with Roadside Theater.
John O’Neal, co-founder of FST and founding Artistic Director of Junebug Productions has centered his work on stories because, as he states, “people come to shared understanding more quickly” through “stories and working with metaphor rather than argument.” You can’t argue with someone’s experience. You may not like what you hear but you can’t disagree with someone’s personal truth. Stories demand respect in a way that arguments never can. The story circle teaches us many important values such as listening, respect, and empathy that are necessary in democratic process. However, the form of storytelling teaches us even more. There are values and skills that are particular to the oral tradition that cannot be learned through writing.
Wendi O’Neal, cultural organizer and daughter of Mr. O’Neal, makes this important distinction when teaching the story circle process. She states that the story circle was influenced by circle work of the civil rights movement, born out of “black people surviving, fighting against, and transcending beyond racism” and further “influenced by the Jali and the griot traditions of West Africa”, which connect our “stories (history) with personal, family, and community spiritual growth – and character development, singing, dancing and traditional rhythms.” In many parts of West Africa, there is a highly esteemed member of a society who is the holder of ancestral memory called the Jali. He is a highly skilled storyteller, historian, and musician who is tasked with committing songs and stories to memory that have existed for centuries. Wendi O’Neal points out that “the methodology of the Jali and griot of the ancient empires of West Africa effectively used memory as documentation” and that these traditions also strengthened one’s “capacity for holding data” without any “need to purchase or have any material thing.”
In our society that worships the written word above all, such equivalent skills in memory and storytelling would be impossible to find. However, the values and traditions of storytelling are found in many communities and continue to serve as a powerful and effective agent for change, survival, and resistance. Even in the direst of circumstances, people have survived with the use of one’s memory and ability to speak. In many ways, Junebug Jabbo Jones, the mythic everyman character created by and personified by John O’Neal in his series of plays, holds many of the same qualities of the Jali and the power of everyday people to organize and survive.
So it is not without precedent and good reason that Junebug’s work has primarily been shared and passed on orally. Mr. O’Neal has shared the story circle process in hundreds of communities across the country, namely through the Color Line Project, the award-winning community engagement project that amplifies stories about people’s involvement and understanding of the civil rights movement through performance and other mediums. The impact he has had – on the field of theater, cultural community development, and beyond is vast. However it is impossible to assess by the little documentation that exists.
Winston Churchill said, “History is written by the victors.” And while that may be true, the overlooked assumption in that statement is that history is written, period. In our modern, western culture, history is indeed written, not shared orally. We find ourselves at a critical moment in which written and recorded documentation is necessary for Junebug’s legacy. Much of what has been written about Junebug is in others’ words and in some cases Junebug has been written out of history. But how do we marry the values of oral traditions and those of the written word? How can the values of oral traditions inform our documentation efforts? What is the digital extension of the story circle?
This past year marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of Free Southern Theater and Junebug Productions hosted the convening Talkin’ Revolution to commemorate the anniversary. Members of Free Southern Theater gathered in New Orleans with other artists, historians, educators, students and organizers from around the country.
During the convening we aired a short documentary, A Conversation with John O’Neal that was based on conversations that took place between myself, current Artistic Director Stephanie McKee, and Wendi O’Neal in November 2012. This is the first in a series of short documentaries about FST and Junebug’s history and methodology. The film ends with Mr. O’Neal’s closing thought: “Our job is to produce art that supports and encourages people who are trying to make change…The most important thing is to honestly examine and confront what’s going on in our society and to examine it with a ruthless honesty – with our selves, with our audiences, with our critics, with our students. What can we do, how can we make it better?” The same can be said for documentation. How do we produce documentation that supports those who are trying to make change? How can communication and documentation serve as a way to honestly examine and confront what’s going on in our society? What can we learn? How can we make it better?
Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below!
Back to the Future: Forward-Thinking Documentation & Archiving is generously sponsored by Drexel University Online.
