By Christine Kuramoto

This month’s Story Slam was called “Small Wins” and was held on February 26 at Interchange Theater. One of the many pleasures of attending an Ex Fabula event is the chance to explore performance spaces in varied and exciting corners of Milwaukee. One storyteller explored the beautifully designed lobby and the theater as the audience was arriving and chuckled, “Finding myself in this place is a big win, not a small one.” 

The Interchange Theater Collective is a professionally appointed, intimate theater space in the lower level of the bright red Calvary Presbyterian Church at the southeast corner of the Marquette Interchange. Storytellers had the opportunity to perform on a theatrically lit stage that is available for use by any aspiring members of the Interchange collective, who can be actors, musicians, or comedians, or any local creative who would like to join the collective and stage their productions in a professional-level, black box theater. 

Audience members are seated around cafe tables to enjoy the evening. After weeks of upheaval in international and national news, many audience members mentioned what a relief it was to settle in for an evening of “real-life” connection.

Abby Osborn told of a badly planned, overlong bike ride in which – despite tired legs and a supper of Sour Patch Watermelon candy- she discovered the beauty: first of a sunset, then of a Blood Moon, then of starlight over Lake Michigan.

Dan Lococo’s story explored the terrain between what his mind told him – that he is an “imposter” and a “failure” – and his actual, lived experience of community, compassion, and finding a bar of chocolate in his pocket to share with a distraught fellow traveler. 

Darnel Bonner told of his search for faith and how he knew he had found the right place when he answered an altar call and the pastor embraced him and whispered, “Welcome Home.” 

Christine Kuramoto told of the connection and hope she found at a gallery exhibition on the Japanese American WWII incarceration and being terrified by how much history seems to be repeating itself. Then, she realized that when survivors and descendants remember and tell the story, the dance of history produces a new generation of resistance. 

Brooke Stanley reflected on having to learn, as a clumsy child, that “Gravity is ALWAYS on.” As an adult (with more knowledge of her diagnosis), she has learned that she can manage her condition and bring her whole self to the lives of children.

Jordan Terry found that a scribbled, incomplete recipe from a grandmother is a doorway into a rich exchange of memories with her mother AND delicious bread rolls. 

Mary Krawczyk was a dedicated 2nd-grade teacher and spread too thin as a professional and as a giver without boundaries. When a massage therapist asked her, “Yes, but who’s holding you up?” she embarked on an important new journey. 

Rowan Blair explored the alarming interplay of 1. Being a canning novice, 2. Botulism, and 3. Emergency Rooms. Sometimes, things aren’t as bad as our worst fears make them. In fact, they’re hilarious, and we survive to tell the tale. Whew! 

Alandra Garcia told of her grandmother’s journey to taking the oath of citizenship and of the challenges of a mixed-status family in a state where law enforcement and other government offices cooperate with ICE. 

Mark Stiedle told of a friend who lost his brother and father in a traffic accident and how collaborating in leaky waders to build a pier at the family lake house helped introduce laughter and healing. 

Rowan Blair was crowned as the night’s Story Slam winner! She will be invited to perform at the Ex Fabula ALL STARS event: 

“If I’m Being Honest”: Stories of white lies, too much honesty and hard truths. 

Date: Friday, May 16, 2025

Time: 6:00 pm doors, 7 pm stories.

Location: The Cooperage, 822 S Water St, Milwaukee, WI 53204

Storytellers, as well as musicians, actors, playwrights, and all those who may dream of seeing their work on the stage, please see the website: https://www.interchangetheater.com. The collective has a very modest fee to join. Classes in sketch comedy are available as well!