The Ark’s annual Storytelling Festival expands to three days for 2022! New this year is a Liars’ Contest on Friday night. Please make your show selection carefully as all sales are final - refunds / exchanges are not available.
Friday, Feb 24, 8:00 p.m.
Liars have been around since the snake first hit it off with Eve. By some accounts, contests celebrating liars have been around since the 15th century, but these accounts may be apocryphal. Today, liars contests are held in countries all around the globe, and The Ark is joining the fray with its First Annual Liars contest, which is part of the new and expanded 36th Annual Storytelling Festival. The event will feature six of the best liars in the region, each telling a ten-minute story and competing for highly valuable bragging rights, a crisp $100 bill, and a fabulous trophy for the winner! Each of our distinguished celebrity judges has a special relationship to the fine art of prevarication.
The Liars | Larry Castleberry, Jennifer Otto, Rich Swanson, Jeff Doyle, Genot Picor, Mike Cox
The Judges | Kathleen Daniels/Married to Jeff Daniels, a man who makes his living by pretending to be other people; Karl Fink/As a retired District Court judge, he spent most of his life listening to liars … and not just the attorneys; Christopher Taylor/Mayor of Ann Arbor, a politician—need we say more?
MC for the event | Amir Baghdadchi
Saturday, Feb 25, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday brings storytellers Bill Harley, Sheila Arnold, and Steve Daut.
Bill Harley is a songwriter and storyteller whose commentaries have been featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. He's equally at home performing for adults and for families, and a refreshing breath of fantasy is just around the corner in everything he does. Tonight Bill performs a special one-man show, appearing in character as a figure from a story by wilderness advocate John Muir, called “Stickeen.” One of the great tales of the American wilderness, the story recounts Muir’s adventures in Alaska with a brave, curious little dog. The show will be followed by a Q&A.
Sheila Arnold brings stories, historic individuals, new ideas, new perspectives and old knowledge to schools, libraries, professional organizations, museums and churches. And Steve Daut is well known to Michigan audiences; he has adapted stories of Mark Twain to the storytelling medium.
Sunday, Feb 26, 1:00 p.m.Sunday’s matinee show will feature tellers from the Saturday program in a show for families.