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Alumni Interview: Susan KleinYear of Graduation: 1974 Concentration Title: Theatre Arts and Education Current Occupation: Storyteller |
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| Susan Klein has been a storyteller for over two decades. She graduated from BDIC in 1974 with a degree in Theatre Arts and Education, and her life's work since then has been nothing short of amazing. Ms. Klein's first job after graduation was teaching kindergarten and first grade. Although her BDIC concentration turned out to be quite relevant to her eventual career, she had not designed her curriculum with storytelling in mind. Quite the contrary, she explained, her first experience seeing a storyteller was against her will. Having been forced to go by friends, she was "prepared to have a really rotten time" and "sat on the edge" like any seasoned theatre-goer anticipating the need for a discreet early exit. Instead, she was instantly hooked. The storyteller she'd seen had successfully worked his magic, and Ms. Klein has been doing the same for a diverse array of audiences ever since. |
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| Her endeavors have led her around the world, through several European countries -- some of them quite remote. She has also traveled to approximately 38 U.S. states. In 1983, Ms. Klein undertook what would become a five tour stint through eight tiny Alaskan villages during which she was often initially viewed as an outsider. When asked how she was able to relate to audiences in such a situation, she explained: "If I haven't been hired to tell a specific piece of material, I don't make that decision until I reach the stage. I'm often suprised... an image will come into the third eye and I realize that that's the story that wants out and there's a reason. I don't mess with that... I'm just in service to the whole thing." Service seems to be the name of the game for Ms. Klein, who has been involved in fundraising efforts for Community Services in her hometown in Martha's Vineyard for 25 years. Specifically, Ms. Klein and a few acquaintances act as organizers and auctioneers at the annual Possible Dreams auction, where the things that are sold "are not tangible items that you can buy anywhere else." Some examples of past "items" that have been auctioned off include walk-on roles in HBO movies, dinner for four in New York with Mike Wallace, and an invitation to a private party on Walter Cronkite's sailboat. "Everybody just really steps up to the plate" she explained. "We all get together and try to give back something." At last year's auction, Ms. Klein and her friends raised $775,000 in three and a half hours. The Possible Dreams auction is just one of several of Ms. Klein's current projects. She has also recently developed "An Alien Eye," a workshop dedicated to teaching the technical aspects of writing including copyediting and proofreading. In addition, she is in the process of working with three Vietnam veterans, one poet and two storytellers, in a self-described "slow moving" project which is just beginning to take shape and for which she is currently searching for funding. Having published more than ten books and recordings, in addition to establishing and managing her own production company, all the while traveling around the world, and serving her community, Ms. Klein has been enormously successful at doing what she loves. When I asked her how she felt her experience with BDIC had contributed to her success, she explained that it had granted her "the ability to know that I can stand on my feet wherever I am...it doesn't matter what kind of challenges come up, the proof has already been in the pudding." To learn more about Susan Klein, visit her website! |
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