Five storytellers took the stage Saturday evening as part of the Moth MainStage event, sharing intimate and unscripted stories from their lives. The Moth has only a few rules, but they set the stage for everything else: real stories told with no notes or props of any kind.
Ted Shaw, a civil-rights lawyer and former president of the NAACP Legal-Defense Fund, told a story that melded lessons from his grandmother and his distinguished law career. But before he walked on stage, Mr. Shaw shared another bit of honest vulnerability.
“I’ve done my fair share of public speaking, argued some really big cases,” Mr. Shaw said. “But when it is your own story to tell, it gets a lot harder.”
The Tabernacle was filled, with many bringing blankets and chairs and listening from the lawn.
— Mark Alan Lovewell
The show took place at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, a return to form after a pandemic hiatus. The Moth first came to the Vineyard in the summer of 2012, introducing Island audiences to the event, then held at Union Chapel, and featuring just one Island speaker, Cynthia Riggs, along with five off-Island storytellers.
On Saturday, the Tabernacle was filled. Some spectators brought blankets and beach chairs to listen from the surrounding lawn. Ophira Eisenberg, a comedian and former host of NPR’s Ask Me Another, acted as host and emcee, while also sharing vignettes from her own life.
Seasonal Vineyarder Brooke Adams talked about how it felt to become a grandmother during the peak of the pandemic. Filled with images of empty New York streets and descriptions of Ms. Adams’s own bout with Covid-19, the Hollywood actress’s story memorably ended with her finally meeting her new grandchild at her daughter’s house in New Jersey. The only issue? She wasn’t allowed inside the house and ended up having to pee in the backyard.
“I can only hope that the neighbors didn’t choose that moment to look out their widow and see me squatting in between the bushes,” Ms. Adams said to laughter from the audience.
Danyel Smith told a story about breaking into the music writing business.
— Mark Alan Lovewell
Jacoby Cochran and Paula Peters talked about taking care of family.
Mr. Cochran’s story centered around the end of his parent’s marriage and the closing of the family business — a roller rink in Illinois. He said that no matter how bad it got, he could always find peace skating around the rink.
Ms. Peters lifted up the difficulty of become a caregiver after her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
Journalist Danyel Smith, a music critic who has written for a number of publications, including Spin, Rolling Stone and the New York Times, talked about getting her start after dropping out of UC Berkley and bluffing her way into an internship at the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
After the show, Ms. Smith, who has visited the Island many times, said that there was something deeply human about telling a story all alone on stage and without any notes.
“People have been doing this since the dawn of time,” Ms. Smith said. “And there’s something primal about being here on the Island. It makes me feel so connected to myself.”
