Last Saturday saw our final Story Pillars concert of the Spring 2026 season at the Palmerston Library Theatre. The evening's theme followed Tales of Wisdom: Non-Fiction Edition, 7 tellers telling true tales filled with pearls of wisdom learned through life lessons and over coming.
Kicking off the show Justin Shaw our Artistic Director spoke about his favourite subject- growing up on Prince Edward Island- before our first teller Dave Keystone took to the stage. Dave is an award-winning host, producer, and fundraising professional, best known as the host and co-creator of the CBC series Small Talk, for which he won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Host. He shared his personal story of discovering philanthropy and volunteering during a period of depression following a series of significant loses in his life, leaving us all with his wise words that "Set up a life of giving, the rest will come." His story was a reminder that purpose can come from lending your time and abilities to help others in your community.
Next up was comedian, actor and storyteller Yvy Ringler who has also been a competetive power lifter! She shared a personal reflection on how not allowing yourself to play as an adult can limit you, including how this lead to conflict with a former power lifting coach. But as she found a coach full of play everything changed by learning to play, take risks, and fully enjoy life by releasing beliefs that no longer served her.
Following on in the spirit of childhood and play Jennielea Roxon a local songstress and storyteller, who has run CircleSing for 30+ years across the GTA, shared a captivating story of one little girl's mission to drape her jacket onto a chair. Jennielea shared that she decided to tell a brand new story for this event and was feeling nervous but, kept the image of this determined little girl in her head to remind herself "It is not a failure if you keep trying."
After a brief intermission with yummy treats provided in the Snack Lounge by our talented volunteer baker Anna we started our second act with Tales Toronto co-producer Briane Nazimok. He took us on a journey with his childhood buddies the 'butter boys' and a tale of love lost and elementary school fight clubs.
Due to illness Sarah Rose Caplan wasn't able to perform but our wonderful volunteer technican, and other co-producer of Tales Toronto, Andrew Wong stepped in for a last minute story slot! His reflection on modern dating in hell- no sorry Hinge- weighed up the benefits of reconnecting when you said you wouldn't go back and social dynamics in the digital age.
Coming straight from the 'Birds of a Feather' fundraiser she had hosted earlier that day, for fellow Storytelling Toronto member Mariella Bertelli's Story Save recording with Storytellers of Canada (SC-CC), Rubena Sinha took to the stage to tell a tale from India during British collonisation, featuring a Maharaja and a warrior woman defending her land.
Finishing out our evening was Brad Woods, who you may have seen at Story Slam in Feburary, who shared a sweet story of a monumental gift from his father, tickets to the world series!
If you missed Tales of Wisdom no need to fret! With only 1 week to go until the Toronto Internationa Storytelling Festival you won't have to wait long for another chance to catch incredible storytellers in action...
Grab your tickets here!
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