Speak for Yourself storytelling open mic to focus on stories of compassion in February

For the past year or so, the folks behind local theatre group Artist Laboratory Theatre have been putting on a story-telling open mic night called Speak for Yourself at venues around Fayetteville.

The event, which has recently found a permanent home as part of the Sunday Night Service rotation at Maxine’s Tap Room, will have a bit of a special focus this month as organizers honor February as The Month of Compassion in Fayetteville.

Artist Laboratory Theatre has partnered with Compassion Fayetteville to ask community members to tell their stories about their encounters with compassion – whether giving, receiving, rejecting or ignoring it – at the event, scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 9 at Maxine’s.

It isn’t the first time Speak For Yourself has focused the open mic night around a specific theme, and Erika Wilhite, director for Artist Laboratory Theater says it won’t be the last.

“We’ve been talking to the Shiloh Museum about the groups that meet there, and we hope some of them will come tell their stories in the future,” she said. “We also hope that if people have ideas for themes for the show, that they’ll share them with us.”

The rules for the open mic nights are simple. No paper, no poems, no songs—just tell a true story about a moment in your life that made an impact on your character. Just be yourself and speak for yourself. And anyone who attends can tell a story.

Signup is at 6:30 p.m. and the open mic begins at 7 p.m. on Feb. 9. The event is free to attend.

For a bit more information, check out the Facebook page for the event.