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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a masterwork; its place is secure in the Western literary canon. By choosing to perform such a rich and complex text, the oral interpretative storyteller assumes responsibility for research in addition to the artistic work necessary to prepare a performance, becoming, in effect, a scholar-artist. This essay considers the critical heritage of the poem, giving emphasis to various interpretations of the Green Knight, and suggests ways such research informs a performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers storytelling as a healing art in relation to Paul Bonin-Rodriguez's solo performance in Memory's Caretaker. According to the author, through storytelling, a meaning can be constructed out of chaos, shape and validate personal identity, and transform emotional pain. The acts of story, both storytelling and storylistening--of telling one's story, of listening to another person's story, or of another person listening to our own--are fundamental to our humanity and sense of well-being. Memory's Caretaker was considered an act of healing through autobiographical storytelling. In a comparison made between the trilogy The Texas Trinity and Memory's Caretaker, it was stated that instead of offering a coming of age story of a fictional alter ego, Memory's Caretaker is an autobiographical, poetic journey of transformation and healing, of shaping meaning out of chaos and of claiming validation. Memory's Caretaker is also a metanarrative about the power of storytelling. The performance itself is reflexive process through which the storyteller reclaims his heritage, constructs his identity, brings together the apparently conflicting parts of his heritage, and moves towards individuation. Paul's performance in The Texas Trinity and Memory's Caretaker was compared.

Interviews Lou Burton, project director of the Rocky Mountain Chautauqua. Purpose of a Chautauqua; Reason for the strong interest in local history; Ways to balance the bonding of the humanities and entertainment; Discussion on how English professors develop a performance that is entertaining.

Shares the author's experience as a participant-observer Chautauquan, placed within the context of the national revival in the U.S. Background of Chautauqua; Groundwork for the revival of the tent Chautauqua movement; Formation of the Wyoming Chautauqua Society; Workshops; Future of Chautauqua movement.

Presents abstracts of articles relating to literature and oral interpretation. Inclusion of 'Necessary Misreadings: Directions in Narrative Theory for Children's Literature,' by Peter Hunt, published in the journal 'Studies in the Literary Imagination'; 'Deconstruction and Linguistic Analysis,' by Ronald Schleifer, published in the April 1987 issue of the journal 'College English.'

Interviews storyteller, wit, lecturer and writer Quentin Crisp. Television adaptation of Crisp's autobiography 'The Naked Civil Servant'; Success as a solo performer; Tours in the U.S. and Great Britain in the one-man show 'An Evening With Quentin Crisp'; Factors that influenced Crisp to solo performance.

Presents abstracts of articles relating to literature and oral interpretation. Inclusion of 'Chautauqua: On the Road and Doing Fine,' by Jane Curry, published in the November/December 1982 issue of 'Federation Reports'; 'Dialogics As an Art of Discourse in Literary Criticism,' by Don H. Bialostosky, published in the October 1986 issue of 'PMLA.'

Examines the one-man shows 'Emlyn Williams As Charles Dickens' and Hal Holbrook's 'Mark Twain Tonight!' which were performed on Broadway in New York City during the 1950s. Exploration of the biographical one-person show genre; Wide variation open to the contemporary solo performer; Use of direct audience address to link the various vignettes that comprise the body of the script.