Understanding The Moth: True Stories Told Live

Founded in 1997 by writer George Dawes Green, The Moth is a live storytelling juggernaut that helped spawn storytelling showcases the nation over. While living in the fast-paced rat-race that is New York City, Green pined for the slow-cooked, rich stories he and his friends shared on St. Simons Island off the coast of Georgia. Down south, as stories were exchanged, moths fluttered about the porch lights. Et voila. The Moth was born. Now, 12 NEA grants later, the Moth is thriving in 19 cities throughout the United States and has enabled 15,000 stories to be shared live on stage. The Moth’s success underscores the fact that stories connect us more than ever as we navigate an increasingly digital age where it’s more natural to text or tweet than to dial an actual number. Today, we’re going to unpack one of those 15,000 stories with the Moth’s executive director, Sarah Haberman, and producing director, Sarah Austin Jenness. The story under inspection is none other than comedian Tig Notaro’s hysterically devastating piece, “R2, Where Are You?” Tune in to hear her do what she does best: brazenly walk a razor thin line of tragedy and comedy. See transcript > Photo by Eli Goldstein.