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Slings & Arrows

Perfect partners or evil exes, fantastic first dates or dates from hell, love fulfilled or love unrequited – nothing is off-limits for Door Shakespeare and Write On, Door County’s first Valentine’s Day-inspired storytelling event, “Slings and Arrows.”

More than a handful of Door County residents will find themselves front-and-center sharing real-life stories as part of the event, which finds itself in the schedule of events for Door County Brewing Company’s Winter Carnival Side Show on Feb. 8.

Inspired by an event her sister, Jen, helped organize in Los Angeles, Door Shakespeare Executive Director Amy Ludwigsen approached Write On, Door County Executive Director Jerod Santek last spring about setting up a similar storytelling event in Door County.

The first installment took place last summer leading up to Door Shakespeare’s season and centered on the theme of “Lost and Found,” which also happened to be the theme of Door Shakespeare’s two summer 2014 shows, William Shakespeare’s King Lear and The Comedy of Errors.

The result was an unexpected outpouring of creative ideas from people of all ages.

“It’s amazing to see, when you give a theme, how it resonates with people’s real life stories,” Ludwigsen said.

After a successful inaugural event, both organizations committed to offering a live storytelling event quarterly with different themes. Their second storytelling event, in October, was focused on “Transformation.”

“Slings and Arrows” will be the third installment of the collaboration, a theme inspired by the Canadian TV comedy series of the same name that takes a behind-the-scenes look at a Shakespearean theater troupe.

“It seems perfect for what the storytelling is all about – love that went really well or love that went pretty bad,” Santek said. “You can take the ‘Slings and Arrows’ anyway you would like to.”

“Everyone has at least one story to tell, if not quite a few,” he added. “Some of them are just lovely, some of them are just funny.”

Given the theme, Santek and Ludwigsen felt Door County Brewing Company was the perfect location for an event that emphasizes community over performance.

“It lends more to the atmosphere – we’re here to have a good time!” Santek said.

The event will begin at 1 pm on Sunday, Feb. 8 at Door County Brewing Company, 2434 County Road F in Baileys Harbor.