Program & Retreat Schedule
Join off-Broadway actor, Barbara Bates Smith as she entertains and teaches us the art of storytelling! We all have stories to tell and discovering yours can be a gift to others. This interactive program begins with a storytelling performance by Barbara. Participants will learn techniques and methods to help make your story meaningful and memorable. Following the program, there will be a dessert bar and an opportunity talk with Barbara in a social setting. Proceeds from this event benefit Beacon of Hope Crisis Center. This program has limited seating, so register early!
Saturday, February 1, 2020
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Cost is $50 (includes dessert bar)
Barbara Bates Smith has won the Best Actress award from the Southeastern Theatre Conference and has enjoyed featured roles in countless regional productions. Her off-Broadway performance of Ivy Rowe, (from author Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies) has led her to extensive touring of the author's works. Barbara has added Go Granny D! tours to her repertoire, celebrating the cross-country trek of 90 year old, Doris Haddock to bring about campaign finance reform. Her various monologues and popular Our Own Stories workshops keep Barbara busy traveling around the country.
Barbara received a BA from the University of Alabama and her post graduate work at University of South Florida in the Special Education and Gifted Program. She was one of thirteen selected participants in the Autobiographic Storytelling Workshop, let by Spalding Gray in 1992. Creating and performing more than 15 different literary adaptations for the stage, Barbara was the founder and artistic director of Taproot Theatre, an educational touring ensemble in Lakeland, Florida. She has led her Our Own Stories workshops at countless schools, colleges, universities, conferences retreat centers, festivals and continuing education seminars around the country.
Recently widowed, Barbara lives in Columbia, South Carolina near her daughter. Her love of performing and teaching the art of storytelling is her hobby. For more information about Barbara, visit her website at
