The Photography of Jed Kirschbaum '67 - The Taft School

Storyteller Jay O’Callahanenthralled audiences atTaft in February.Of Chickies and DragonsIn February, renowned storyteller Jay powerful tale of a young boy’s imagination,and it challenged the kids to con-O’Callahan spent the day telling storiesand facilitating performance and sider powerful issues surrounding race,writing workshops. O’Callahan has poverty and social justice.performed his tales at venues around O’Callahan held another storytellingthe world, including at Lincoln Center session in the evening for students, facultyand the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. In and their children in the Choral Room.Morning Meeting, he told the story Many faculty kids (and some older ones“Chickie,” part of his collection of “Pill as well) showed up in their pajamas toHill Stories” inspired by his childhood hear O’Callahan tell “The Little Dragon”growing up in Boston. “Chickie” is a and other short tales. In addition, he ranworkshops in Helena Fifer’s acting classesand Jennifer Zaccara’s creative writingclass. School Chaplain the Rev. MichaelSpencer, who brought O’Callahan tocampus, described his visit as “a wonderfulday of storytelling to awaken the creativeimagination and remind us that weare never too old for stories—we too havepowerful stories to tell.”For more information, visit www.ocallahan.com.Good Grief!This winter, senior Ben Grinberg starred inTheatreWorks New Milford’s productionof Dog Sees God: Confessions of a TeenageBlockhead, Bert Royal’s parody of the iconic“Peanuts” comic strip. The play showsa group of angst-ridden teenagers whom,as the play progresses, the audience comesto recognize as grown-up versions of the“Peanuts” gang. Grinberg played the leadrole of “CB,” a young, suburban youthwho is fascinated by hip-hop culture.Reviewing the play for Housatonic Living,critic Abigail Leab Martin describedGrinberg’s performance as “engaging andsympathetic…despite the considerable demandsof his role, he never falters. He isriveting, particularly in the more poignantmoments of the production.”For more information, visit www.theatreworks.us.Ben Grinberg ’07, left, as “CB” in Dog Sees GodTaft Bulletin Spring 2007 11