The Searing Stories at Fillet of Solo

In 2004, then first-year Suzie Campbell’s vibrator was stolen by her male friends and paraded around Mertz Hall. Traveling from floor to floor, with occasional stops to knock on unsuspecting doors, Campbell’s unused vibrator became more acquainted with the hall’s residents than Campbell herself.

That’s how Campbell, a Loyola alumna, started her story at Fillet of Solo, Lifeline Theatre’s 28th annual storytelling festival. 

Located at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., the theater’s storytelling event spanned two weekends from Nov. 8-17. The event featured 130 solo and collaborative performances.

For Dorothy Milne — co-curator of the festival — intimacy marks the difference between a play and storytelling. She said unlike plays, which hire a variety of actors, solo storytelling can only be told by the individual.

“In its purest form, this is just a person standing in a pool of light telling you a story like you were at the bar together,” Milne said. 

Story sharing is an ancient practice in seeking discernment, according to Milne.

“We need stories to understand each other and go, ‘Someone who looks different than me feels the same feelings I’m feeling,’” Milne said.

Campbell, a 38-year-old single mother, said becoming a storyteller wasn’t intentional, but rather the result of venting to a friend.

When she was 35 and newly single, Campbell said she was diagnosed with pre-cervical cancer. Further testing revealed she would need a hysterectomy — surgical removal of the uterus. 

To cope, Campbell shifted her focus from medical complications to sex. But after the surgery, she said trusting others with her body was daunting.

“I started to expand my definition of sex in a way that I think of sex is more than fucking,” Campbell said. “It’s not just about intercourse — there are so many parts of sex that can be satisfying without penetration.”

Thus, her story “Get Fucked” was born.

Her stigma surrounding sex can be traced back to her first vibrator being paraded around Mertz, according to Campbell. She said her goal in storytelling is to reduce the shame of women talking about sex.

“By sharing my story, other people can be seen and can know that they’re not alone and that sex is important and it’s okay to say so,” Campbell said.

Storytelling as a method to give underrepresented groups a voice is commonplace at Fillet of Solo.

In an acknowledgment of present-day biases against LGBTQ+ individuals, William Gregory partnered with Racquel Jones and Dhamana Shauri to tell the stories of their experiences of prejudice against the community in “Pride and Prejudice.” Gregory details personal experiences with discrimination, while Jones and Shauri witnessed bigotry.

Gregory said the homophobia he experienced growing up as a closeted gay man and the prejudices he sees today are his primary reasons for sharing his story.

“All you have to do is see who was voted in as our president to see how necessary these stories still are,” Gregory said.

While Gregory is the only queer member of the trio, he said his co-stars’ allyship is important because it shows support to potential audience members.

For Gregory, storytelling inspires people to invest compassion in other humans. Hearing a personal account holds more weight than numbers and statistics because the audience can visualize the impact, Gregory said.

By holding space not only for speaking but also for listening, he said Fillet of Solo acts as a platform for underrepresented persons.

“We live in an ageist society,” Gregory said. “We live in a homophobic society. We live in a biased society against women, against so many different categories of people. It gives voice to the voiceless.” 

Storytelling also serves as a method of narrative correction, according to storyteller Nestor Gomez.

As a former undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, Gomez said he’s heard a wide variety of narratives about the immigrant experience — from nonimmigrants.

“There’s a lot of rhetoric about immigrants [who] come to this country,” Gomez said. “We ‘eat your dogs and cats’ and we take over your jobs and we want to force our culture and language on youth.” 

When he first began telling stories 10 years ago, Gomez said the lack of storytellers portraying

 the immigrant experience was the catalyst for his show, “80 Minutes Around the World: Immigration Stories.”

While the storytellers in Gomez’s show differ every time it’s performed, he said the audience size at Fillet of Solo is consistent — and small.

His performance the first weekend of the festival had an estimated crowd of 40 to 60 people, but some shows have audiences as small as 12. This is shocking for Gomez, as he said he thought the mile proximity to Loyola would encourage student attendance. 

“I would really love to find a way to connect with Loyola,” Gomez said. “How more the students from Loyola come to our shows. Loyola is only blocks away.”

Lifeline Theatre’s shows run until Dec. 22 and resume Jan. 3. Tickets are available on their website.