by Christine Kuramoto
Ex Fabula, in partnership with Renaissance Theaterworks, hosted a hilarious, mysterious and lively night of storytelling with the theme โStrangers on aโฆโ The theme inspired a rich variety of stories from the audience gathered at Next Act Theatre in the Walkerโs Point neighborhood of Milwaukee. Next Act is the home of both Next Act Theatre and Renaissance Theaterworks, two Milwaukee powerhouses of locally-nurtured talent and nationally-recognized theatre productions.
Hosts for the evening were Mark Weinberg, an actor, activist, theater teacher and co-founder of the Center for Applied Theater, and his partner host, Jasmine Gonzalez, the new Marketing Manager for Ex Fabula. Together they welcomed to the stage five brand-new story tellers, along with three talented veterans.
โStrangers on a โฆ.โ invites volunteer storytellers to explore chance encounters that lead to unexpected, and often life-changing results. Sarah Beth Nelson led off the evening with a story that had a practical twist. A stranger in a public restroom helped her learn to hang toilet paper over a sensor when her small children feared being swallowed by an unexpected flush. Barbara Leigh traced how strangers could be both allies (other artists in a dance performance she helped create, using puppet legs) and baffling adversaries on her journey as a survivor of spinal cord injury. Erin Johnston was deeply ashamed of farting โ anywhere outside of a bathroom? Completely unacceptable! โ until a Nebraska Arts Council event in which a Cowboy Poet introduced her to this art form: Fart Yodeling.
Jonathan Weyer told of a visitation by three strangers while on a pilgrimage hike in Wales. The strangers had a quiet wisdom and a meditative way of chewing hay. Eddie Knoxโs story starts with a Mississippi friend and involves crab boil, coffins, and invisible guests in 150-year-old houses. Maria Kielma began her story, โI was seeing someone else in the mirror.โ She continued with the transformation of that stranger as chemotherapy caused the loss of her long, red hair, then baldness, then mohawks, then a realization: โThis is Maria.โ
Karen Ambrosh, fresh out of high school, was traveling in Germany. Along the way, she shared a passenger car with a nun, an Indian barrister and an Italian man who wanted to share his bottle of wine and maybe a bit more. Meanwhile, she was on the wrong trainโ and ended up in Switzerland. Jim Winslip traveled to Mexico as a teenager because โa kid I didnโt even know that wellโ invited him. This created a new path, leading to Spanish classes, the Peace Corps and a lifetime of learning and travel. Twenty-two years ago, Jessica Palmertโs Uber driver, while enroute from Flagstaff to Sedona, Arizona , told her an unforgettable story of sex with alien life forms, intergalactic travel, and star seeding.
As always, Ex Fabula evenings are a beautiful mix of strangers, friends and strangers-becoming-friends. The spontaneous format and the truthful tales are the perfect, communal antidote to the computer screens and corporate healthcare language of my own workdays.
The winning story of the night and the bejewelled Ex Fabula crown went to Jessica Palmert and the tale of the Uber driver with an extraterrestrial dating history!
The next event for Ex Fabula:
Date Night: Stories of Romantic Adventures, Mishaps, and Surprises
Date: Friday, December 5, 2025
Time: 6:30pm doors, 7pm stories.
Location: Falcon Bowl, 801 E Clarke St, Milwaukee, WI 53212
Cost: $12 advance / $15 at the door if tickets remain.
Tickets: https://www.exfabula.org/product/date-night-12-5/
Next Act Theatre upcoming performances:
Boswell
By: Marie Kohler
November 19 – December 14
Tickets: https://nextact.org/show/boswell/
Renaissance Theaterworks upcoming performances:
Cardboard Piano
By: Hansol Jung
Directed by Elyse Edelman
January 11-February 1, 2026 – (Previews Jan 9 & 10)
Tickets: https://rtwmke.org/shows/cardboard-piano/
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