Troupe’s Stories Gain Something in the Translation

Los Angeles’ We Tell Stories troupe staunchly believes in the oral tradition. Central to that tradition is the notion that with each retelling will come variations on a theme, something that has nearly vanished in this age of home videos that only allow children to re-experience stories the same way time after time.

Stories in the company’s “Ancient Wisdom” program tonight in Anaheim hail from Japan, India, Sri Lanka and Iran. And although the basics of the original stories are generally retained, We Tell Stories’ versions are sometimes quite different.

“Stories change with every person who tells them,” said Carl Weintraub, the group’s co-founder, who is scheduled to perform tonight with actors Denise Iketani and John Miyasaki. “We need to make them our own, to say what we want to say with them.

“At times, you could probably criticize us for not adhering exactly to the cultural elements of some of our stories. But for what we do, I’m less interested in a straight cultural experience as I am in the getting across the spirit of the story. We want to get kids involved, to go away from our shows saying, ‘I could do that.’ ”

The troupe is known for enlivening its large repertoire of international folk tales and legends with improvisational humor, a trunk full of irreverent props and great gobs of audience participation.

Having performed for years at Los Angeles area schools, museums and festivals, We Tell Stories has been seen increasingly in Orange County. It performs regularly at the Imagination Celebration and in the “Just for Kids” series; in the last two years, it’s been booked at a growing number of area schools through the Orange County Performing Arts Center educational outreach program.

Some of tonight’s tales will provide examples of the ebb and flow of the storytelling tradition. “Cutie Cousin” is a variation on an Iranian folk tale that Weintraub said appealed to his group for its structure and message more than for its original form.

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“The original is about a cockroach who wants to get married, so she dresses up and goes out to find a husband,” said Weintraub. “Each prospect she encounters, she asks ‘What would you beat me with?’ ” Each suitor has a ready answer, and the bug wisely passes them up until she meets a rat, who pledges to treat her well.

“We changed her question to ‘How would you treat me?’ Weintraub said. “She passes up a bee and a lion and finally settles on a cockroach who promises they’ll live in a nice little kitchen in the Upper East Side and forage around for good food and have lots of little cockroaches. Up till [this point in the show], the kids in the audience have been going ‘No, no!’ when she asks if she should marry one of these guys; when the cockroach comes along, they all go ‘Yeah!’ ”

Audience participation isn’t limited to shouts from the stands. The Indian story, “The White Elephant,” tells how the gardener Shankar comes to his garden only to find the elephant on which the god Indra rides back and forth to heaven.

He grabs hold of the elephant’s tail and flies to heaven himself, bringing back huge, luscious fruit that he shares with his wife, who promptly blabs his secret to all the villagers. Soon, everyone is tagging along for the ride, Shankar holding on to the tail with a string of hangers-on behind him.

“We get kids from the audience to play the villagers and the elephant,” said Weintraub. “Then the guy at the very end starts bugging Shankar, asking: ‘How big are the apples in heaven?’ The kids pass his question up the line, and he keeps sending back the answer: ‘Be patient, you will see.’

“Finally, he gets fed up and lets go of the elephant’s tail and shows him with his arms, and of course, everybody falls back to Earth.”

Although it’s meant to be accessible to young children, the story’s message demonstrates the same theme found in many of the more complex Indian legends, Weintraub said.

“It plays out a lot simpler, but the idea if the same: You have to work hard and be patient to reach Nirvana. Nothing worth having comes easy.”

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Most of the company’s shows are performed with three actors, drawn from a pool of 20 professional actors and storytellers.

Next month the 14-year-old troupe will premiere its newest piece during an extended stint at the Los Angeles Children’s Museum. “New Wives Tales,” a collection of stories and legends about women, is the ninth title in the company’s repertoire.

Others include the literature-oriented “Let Them Eat Books,” “The Spirit of Black Folklore” and the multicultural “Proud to Be Me.” We Tell Stories also has shows focusing on Latino stories, respect for the Earth and the winter holidays.

“Ancient Wisdom” is the fourth of 10 family oriented shows presented in this summer’s “Just for Kids” series at Pearson Park. Still ahead are “Make-A-Circus” on July 28, a concert by Lake Forest children’s singer Jim Rule on Aug. 4 and storytelling by the Magical Moonshine Theatre on Aug. 18. The series closes Aug. 25 with a magic revue, “Magic Under the Stars.”

A funding crisis almost made the series disappear. According to program spokeswoman Sue Richmond, each season costs about $130,000 to produce. Organizers want to keep ticket prices down, so box-office revenues cover only a fraction of that.

The Leo Freedman Foundation, which had awarded large grants to the program from 1992-94, gave no grants this year, so organizers turned to local businesses and individuals for underwriting. The city is expected to kick in about $50,000 as well. If funding can’t be secured for next year, Richmond said, it’s questionable as to whether the program will survive after this summer.

* We Tell Stories presents “Ancient Wisdom” tonight at the Pearson Park Amphitheatre, Lemon and Sycamore streets, Anaheim. 7:30 p.m. $1 to $2. Box office opens at 6:30 p.m. (714) 254-5274.