No, YOU Tell It! storytellers work together to develop true tales on the page, then swap stories to embody their partner’s culture, identity, and life experience on stage.
Our collaborative approach to storytelling values cooperation over competition. In 2012, creator Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons brought together four friends for what was intended to be a one-time creative experiment. For that first show, founding member Erika Iverson wrote a raw story about her mother’s recent death.
At one point, she turned to her story partner and said, “I don’t think I can read this aloud. But I can let you read it.”
Pairing up story partners to step into each other’s stories in a theatrical performance empowers different voices and fosters a more profound sense of empathy for both the storytellers and the audience members. This sense of camaraderie shines through on stage at the show. Audiences witness the community created when story partners help each other share the stories that need to be told.
Take a look at all that goes into our shows! This special performance at Symphony Space raised money and awareness for the education nonprofit Bottom Line, which supports students from under-resourced communities as they get into college, graduate, and go far in life.
Community programming in Queens is at the heart of our mission. While No, YOU Tell It! is not exclusive to Queens performances, the series survived the pandemic and thrives due to the spirit and support of the Queens creative community. Queens is the largest and most diverse borough in NYC, and our series provides its artists and residents with an opportunity to experience each other’s stories.
We celebrated ten years of switched-up storytelling in 2022 with the launch of the No, YOU Tell It! Ten-Year Anthology from Palm Circle Press. This collection of story swaps is not a “best of” but a showcase of how our collaborative process makes writing and performing personal narratives accessible, empathetic, and transformative. The result is a vibrant anthology that illustrates the history and development of the series.
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