A Port Theatre Spotlight Series Presentation
The Flame: The Nanaimo Stories
(limited festival seating on stage with performers)
The award-winning actor and a creator of Mom’s the Word, Deborah Williams is bringing the hit storytelling event, The Flame, to the Port Theatre. The Flame is a storytelling series that features real people sharing their personal true stories in front of a live audience. Since its inception in 2009, The Flame has flourished and grown into a wildly popular event that packs venues wherever it goes.
The Flame began in Deb Williams and Bruce Kennedys’ eastside Vancouver living room in 2009. Together with co-creator Joel Wirkkunen, they invited 20 people to each share a personal true story. In return, the tellers were offered wine, cheese, and a warm place to gather. The storytellers, mostly professional performers, arrived self-conscious with acute stage fright. They told their stories, heard others, and left exhilarated; filled, and wanting more.
The Flame caught fire.
The monthly live storytelling event found a home and sold out at Main Street’s iconic Cottage Bistro, home of live music and spoken word.Â
The Flame expanded; a Flame started in Victoria with the Belfry Theatre, in New Westminster with the Massie Theatre, in Surrey BC with Surrey Civic Theatres and in the Okanagan Valley with the Ryga Festival. The Flame produced 5 holiday TV specials with Metro Vancouver, based on the theme of “creating memories, not garbage.” Â Many Flame stories were played on stories on CBC Radio and became a series hosted by Martin Strong on Railway Radio.Â
What’s next for The Flame? The Port Theatre presents The Flame: The Nanaimo Stories as part of our Spotlight Series. Join us onstage for this hit storytelling event.
