When the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down and people resumed going to live events, Stories on the Lawn emerged at the Neill-Cochran House Museum. The series, located only a short walk away from campus, invites Austin storytellers and comedians to perform personal stories four times a year, each event with an encompassing theme.
This month’s theme represents the circumstances of life, including life and death, time, differences before and after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks — as the show falls on Sept. 11 — and anything else that falls under seeing “The Other Side.”
“Every time, right before the show, I feel like this is going to be the best show we’ve ever done,” co-producer Susan Mack said. “And every single time, I’m right.”
This month, a number of the storytellers are seasoned Stories on the Lawn performers. Jeff Knight, who attended and taught performance classes at UT from 1988 to 1992, will be a third-time storyteller on the lawn. He will tell “My Mother’s Piano,” a story about the family heirloom that traces his mother’s high school experience, his childhood and now lives in his 28-year-old daughter’s house.
“This story takes place from before I was born,” Knight said. “It’ll still be taking place after I’m dead.”
This performance is the debut of this story for Knight, and he said telling the story on Thursday will shape the way he tells it in the future.
“I wanted to get it just right in a way that would convey both the family story, but also my story,” Knight said. “It’s almost like a person in my life. I’ve had a relationship with this piano.”
This month’s show will include stories about 9/11. Co-producer Mike Mournighan said the storytellers really hit the nail on the head regarding the theme he and Mack decided on.
“We chose ‘The Other Side’ because we felt like it was something that we could use to talk about Sept. 11 — because it’s such a before and after event,” Mack said. “Those of us who had conscious memory on Sept. 11, 2001, can all talk about … where we (were).”
Mack said as co-producers, they try to pick themes that bring out diverse stories, in terms of viewpoint, age, experience and background.
“You have the opportunity, as a person in Austin, to connect with your community through storytelling all the time,” Mournighan said. “There’s a lot of opportunities to feel the connection I think we’re building.”
At Stories on the Lawn, UT students and patrons of all ages find a common ground in stories. Mournighan said watching the connections that happen within an audience of a wide age range proves rewarding.
“I think it’s best when the audience looks like the community you’re trying to give back to,” Mournighan said. “I think that you can see that reflected in what goes on at Stories on the Lawn.”
