Cathy Smith got started with storytelling about six years ago. Her second story was about trying to both protect her daughters and teach them to be fearless. Cathy’s story was chosen to close out Speakeasy DC’s show, “Bad Mommy Moments,” directed by Amy Couchoud, marking Cathy’s first big stage appearance.
For this month’s edition of Video Extras, we turn our attention to Cathy’s story from our April 2015 show, Death & Taxes: stories about the unavoidable. Watch Cathy’s performance below and then read what she has to share about the story behind the story.
Mary: Do you have a routine process for developing a story to perform?
Cathy: I write everything out first, then struggle to not memorize it so that I can sound natural. I really admire people who don’t sound practiced, when you know they are.
Mary: What did you do to prepare to tell this story?
Cathy: I only had a few days to prepare for Sandra’s memorial service, and I read as many of her letters as I could. It was a great way to get reacquainted with the length, breadth, and depth of our friendship. I was writing like a fiend the night before the service. I spoke from notes at the service and couldn’t do that – and wouldn’t want to – for a show, so what I said at her service got restructured somewhat to tell on stage. The one thing I didn’t say at the memorial [that I shared in the show] was that distance distanced us. At the memorial, I hadn’t wanted to face that it had.
Mary: Your story began with meeting Sandra in the office of the college newspaper. What did you study in college?
Cathy: I was an English major. I moved to DC when I couldn’t find a good job in Pittsburgh, and then I couldn’t find one in DC either. So I became a freelance writer, then got a job with a large nonprofit writing about affordable housing, and that became my niche market for more than 20 years. Now I write and perform stories, teach storytelling to young adults at Joe’s Movement Emporium in Mt. Rainier, Maryland, and recently started a business called Learn2Story. I want to teach others how to tell stories because they are so valuable in making connections, both personally and professionally.
Mary: You described how you and Sandra “shared a tremendous, tremendous love of words.” What do you think inspired that in each of you?
Cathy: We both had childhoods in which reading was a great escape and comfort.
Mary: You mentioned that you became correspondents with Sandra after your move to DC and that she would sometimes send as many as four letters in one month. Do you think there’s something different about communicating in writing (letters or emails) rather than over the phone or via text messages?
Cathy: I have another cherished correspondence of nearly 30 years with a woman who was a friend of my husband’s and then became a friend of mine. Her name is Lee Cooper and she lives in Montana. Writing to another person is very intimate and allows for a fullness of self-expression that’s different from being in person or on the phone. Lee also is a word person, a poet ,and a historian. I have every letter anybody has ever written to me.
Mary: “Distance distanced us, being so far apart for so long.” I think this is a challenge to many friendships. What do you think is the antidote to that?
Cathy: There is only one way to be friends and stay friends: devote time to one another. Make time for one another. Time to write, time to call, time to visit. My advice: don’t let too much time pass. You never know when the end may come.
