Mission Statement

Van Cougar aims to celebrate and remind the public of the importance of oral storytelling. Our long-term mission is to compile an internet database for use by artists and anthropologists with stories recorded from people of all ages, races, genders, and geographic regions. As a theater company, we use the stories we have collected to create work that challenges traditional forms of dramatic literature and creates a more complete, interesting and shocking piece of theater.

History

Van Cougar was established in April 2007 to explore and document contemporary oral storytelling. Over the past two years, after hundreds of hours of recordings and workshops with actors in both California and New York City, Van Cougar has developed a form of theatrical performance that we are excited to share with audiences. This form invites the audience to explore the enormous difference between the structure, content and intention of personal stories and the stories being told in modern entertainments, while presenting both versions of storytelling simultaneously.