Ruthanne Edward
Ruthanne first realized she was a storyteller while she working as a walking tour guide telling ghost stories in downtown Ottawa. It occurred to her one day that what she was doing wasn't just tour guiding, it was also storytelling. That led to discovering the Ottawa Storytellers group and a whole world dedicated to the art of storytelling. She was hooked and hasn't looked back since!
Ruthanne has been a working storyteller since 2000, performing for children, families and adults throughout Ontario and Quebec. She has appeared at the Ottawa Fringe Festival, NCC Winterlude Festival, Ottawa Storytelling Festival, St. John's Storytelling Festival, the National Arts Centre, Voices of Venus spoken word series, The Spoken Word Plot, with the Kymeras, on CBC radio, at museums, schools, libraries, and many a campfire. (She really loves the campfire events, especially the way you can take the smell of the woodsmoke home in your hair to enjoy later.)
Material
Ruthanne performs for children aged 4 and up, to teenagers and adults from all walks of life. She loves working with all sorts of age groups and has a particular talent for what she calls mixed family groups, entertaining everyone from the toddlers to the grandparents. Her material is always adapted to fit the needs of whatever group she is telling stories to at that moment.
She has an especial fondness for Canadian history tales, particularly stories of ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Ask Ruthanne about the story of one of the greatest (Newfoundland) heroes that ever lived. She bets (sadly) that you have never heard of him.
Another major interest of Ruthanne's is the telling of ghost stories and other tales of the macabre. Although she can't sit through horror movies with her eyes open, she loves to scare people. She was slightly disturbed when a closer look at her repertoire revealed that quite a large percentage of her stories have corpses in them. Of course, what one person finds scary is ho-hum to another, so Ruthanne has stories available with a variety of fright levels.
She is available to perform at all sorts of events, from birthday parties and sleepovers to corporate functions and concerts. Ruthanne has a number of programmes available covering everything from Ottawa Valley history to ghost stories and stories of princesses who didn't need rescuing. She is always happy to tailor a show to the specific interest of a group or theme of an event.
Availability
Ruthanne is a self-employed storyteller and is available days, evenings and weekends.
Rates
Rates available on request
Contact
email: ruthanne-edward (at)rogers.com; phone: 613.698.9307
For Ruthanne
Today I met a lady
Ruthanne Edward was her name
she told us funny stories
that I'm sure have brought her fame
within the story tellers group
where I assume she is a hit
An affable lady ...
rather cute
and I liked her ... quite a bit!
Larry J MacLeod Ottawa poet ©20070121