That was my Twitter review of last nights Backfence PDX show “Caught Red Handed,” featuring stories never before told from Pema Teeter, Jeff Hardison, Jami Curl, Nicole Georges, Eric Schniewind, Viva Las Vegas, and Rael Dornfest.  Since I have more than 140 characters to work with here, I suppose I can get a bit more nuanced in my reaction to last nights show.

First off, being that I could never get up on stage and tell a story from my life, I cannot critique the delivery of any of last nights storytellers.  The pure fact that they had the courage to get up in front of everyone, and relate a moment from their lives, inspires the rounds of applause they received.  Were some presenters more natural up on stage? Better able to provoke a laugh? Find the perfect word or sentence to describe what they went through? Most certainly.  But if you choose to focus on that, you’re missing the whole point of a show like Backfence.  That point being, at least from my perspective, that we all have a story to tell.  And whether or not we’re born with the “gift of gab,” we’re all storytellers at heart.  Some choose to tell their stories on stage in front of people.  Others choose to convey their life’s script while sitting behind a computer screen.  All of us however, surround ourselves with people that then share in, and become part of, our stories.  Which in a condensed way, desribes what Backfence is, just on a bit more organized and grander scale.

In addition to needing an outlet for our own stories, we also love to be entertained by someone else’s.  Entertainment not just in the form of laughter, but also sadness, anger, fear, and nearly every other emotion. And this is why Backfence works, because it simultaneously fills both of these human desires.  Not in a mutually exclusive way either.  Because even though it wasn’t me up on the stage talking about my mom having the police come to our house because I stole my uncle’s Joe Montana rookie card, hearing the stories told did bring out that memory.  An experience I’m sure I wasn’t alone in, and one that in a way allows the audience to become the storyteller.

We need more experiences like Backfence.  Experiences that bring the human element back into our lifes. We are now too often entertained by the season finale of “Heroes,” or the big screen premier of “The Hangover.”  Which serve their purpose, and have their place in the entertainment continuum, but also dehumanize the world around us.  So props to Frayn and Melissa for recognizing the need for people to have an outlet to become more engaged in their community, and props to the community for finding and supporting their efforts.