A Storytelling Legend Came to Visit Us?! | by English Club SMA Unggulan Rushd | Oct, 2025
Storytelling is an art of its own. Stories have existed since the dawn of humanity and, in a continuum, have fulfilled their purpose in depicting heroes’ epics, legends, and wisdom. Surely, the art of conveying a story that is cohesively put together and thrills the heart of the audience cannot be underestimated, even in the slightest.
Here stands Mr. Roger Jenkins, a Singaporean who dedicates himself to the realm of oral telling. Storytelling reached his ears 25 years ago, exposing it to the well-versed and experienced in drama, theatre production, and poems–Mr. Jenkins. Nowadays, he attends many shows, directs many repertoires, and even hosts his own events that are well-known to the public. Despite his busy schedule, our school luckily managed to reach out to him to come to our school.
Then, he came to our school. My first impression of him is that he looked so much like what I had imagined a seasoned storyteller would look like. He came with a square-patterned long-sleeved shirt with fitted suspenders and pants. Conventional but really fitting for someone who has an expertise in wholesome and friendly storytelling.
Moving on, the way he effectively engages us in his story does really live up to his reputation. He does this by directly interacting with us, instructing us to repeat his words and actions as the story progresses. Then, there are also so many hilarious moments when he calls some of us to the stage while giving simple-repeated sounds or actions that visualize the story.
My favourite moment is when a friend of mine acts as a lizard while doing “lizard sounds”. These “lizard sounds” that he made sounded different with each repeat, which is obviously not something we expected at all.
Not only that, he also shows us how to use properties to support and creatively realize the fantasy from the stories, despite the properties being relatively simple. Mr. Jenkins really knows how to utilize minimal things to make maximum impact.
We really enjoyed the time we spent together with Mr. Jenkins, as he taught us the value of story and the importance of storytelling as a medium to convey said stories.
He implies how compelling and creative storytelling can greatly impact something, even with minimal and simple media. And thus, we can conclude that creativity and experience are the fundamental factors that carry any imagination into the real world.
Thank you so much for reading. See you later in the next article!