Write Out Loud Celebrates 20 Years of Story Telling

Write Out Loud is celebrating 20 years of Story Concerts, and the next one is at the Dottie Studio Theater on Monday, October 12. It's part of a season that’s been running since mid-March, and if you've never heard of them, the format is pretty straightforward: a curated selection of short stories and poetry read aloud by professional actors, with music woven in. Each show is built around a central theme, and the whole thing is meant as a communal, participatory experience rather than a passive one.

Artistic Director Veronica Murphy has been bringing writers like Emily Dickinson, Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, and Walt Whitman to life in libraries, classrooms, and community venues across the county this season, and the reviews have been strong. The organization was founded in 2007 with the idea of sharing literature as a shared event, and it's grown into one of only 50 organizations nationwide to receive a National Endowment for the Arts - Celebrating America 250 grant.

This particular show is part of a six-show season. The others are spread out across the year: Twain Told Tales was back on August 24, Ladies Unmasked is on Tuesday, October 13, Giving Season comes on Monday, December 7, Harlem & Beyond on Monday, February 8, Courage & Resolve on Monday, April 12, and Potluck 2.0 on Monday, July 12. If you're just getting into it, you've still got plenty of the season left to catch.

Tickets are $40, and the show starts at 7 PM. The Dottie Studio Theater is inside the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center at 2880 Roosevelt Road in Liberty Station.