We all know how difficult it is at times to get kids excited to read, and I have found Storyacting is often that key "hands-on" component that infuses the reluctant reader. In one 45 minute assembly, using three different stories, I can have anywhere from 35-65 roles for children onstage while the audience provides sound effects, special effects, chants, etc. from where they sit. Everyone is engaged, the energy is high, and the atmosphere is electrifying!
Here are some more benefits of
Stomping and running around with a black shawl on her head, Paddy Lynn cackles loudly, playing the role of a mean witch. Meanwhile, a group of 50 school children watches her every move with wide eyes and smiling faces.
Acting out the folk tale of an old, mean witch who tricks seven children, eventually turning them into food, she pulled some of the children from the audience. Handing out homemade costumes, she asked the children to play different characters in the story.
Lynn is a storyteller who shares her craft at schools, park districts and birthday parties. A Mundelein resident, she was at Townline Elementary School in Vernon Hills on Jan. 25 for the school’s regular Family Night, which offers an array of activities for parents and their children.
She may make children laugh and giggle, but her talent isn’t lost on the adults in the crowd.
“You want to smile every time you see her,” said Karen Cencula, principal of Townline. “She just brings happiness.”
Cencula met Lynn nearly 13 years ago when they both worked at Hawthorn Elementary School South in Vernon Hills, Cencula as a principal and Lynn as a teacher’s assistant. Lynn often told stories in classes to teach lessons.
“You want to smile every time you see her,” said Karen Cencula, principal of Townline. “She just brings happiness.”
Lynn said that after working for a year as a teacher’s assistant, Cencula and her co-workers told her they thought she was talented, and encouraged her to pursue storytelling full-time. On that advice, she started Paddy Lynn Storyacting nearly 10 years ago.
Lynn is passionate about what she does. She always has a story to tell, whether it’s a performance at a school or chatting with a friend at home.
While she is storyteller, her heart is in storyacting, which moves beyond story telling and uses costumes and props to act out tales from books or poems. She performs at birthday parties, school assemblies, park districts, retirement homes, and other venues. Her prices vary from $100 to $250, depending upon the event. Sometimes she performs for free or at a reduced price, depending on the situation.
“Theater has always been my passion,” Lynn said. “That’s why I got so much into storyacting.”
She said the acting bug bit her when she was 6 years old, and from then on she performed in school plays and studio productions. She received a degree in acting from Illinois State University, she teaches summer theater camps, and she is the artistic director and vice president of the Kirk Players, based in Mundelein.
Lynn is part of a family of performers. Her husband of 30 years, Jon L. Lynn, teaches theater at Barrington High School and is also involved in the Kirk Players, which his father founded more than 40 years ago. The couple has two children, Valerie, 18, a dancer, and Veronica, 26, who is an actress.
For her performances, Lynn uses books or poems, and puts a creative spin on the stories so the children can get involved, she said.
“[Storyacting] is based in literacy,” Lynn said. “You want them to get fired up about a book.”
The children at Townline Elementary seemed fired up, howling with laughter whenever Lynn threw up her arms, made a funny face, or yelled using a goofy voice. And, when it came time to choose volunteers to help act out a story, nearly every tiny hand in the crowd shot into the air.
“Storyacting is based in literacy,” Lynn said. “You want them to get fired up about a book.”
“It’s the joy that comes out of her,” Cencula said. “The passion and enthusiasm, kids can see that. She gets them going, and has a good sense of humor. She makes every child feel like a special part of her story.”
Lynn feels lucky to have fallen into this line of work.
“What more fun of a job can you have than being the entertainment at a kid’s birthday party?” she said. “You’re sharing a part of yourself with them.”
