Donald Davis uses amazing special effects to dazzle, entrance and engage audiences — they’re called “words.” The product of deep roots in North Carolina’s mountain country, champion storyteller and retired Methodist minister Davis belongs to a tradition that predates the Internet, TV, movies and radio, when the tale-spinner on the front porch was the unplugged equivalent of premium cable. And more: Storytellers of Davis’ lineage remain repositories of centuries-old folklore and family histories, carrying the thread of entire communities. Maybe that sounds dry, but if you’ve ever had a stranger start up a conversation, then looked up to see that three hours had breezed by in a seeming eyeblink, you need to make Davis’ acquaintance. Davis is a hot ticket on the nationwide storytelling circuit, his renown spread by books and tapes; this free performance is a gift to cash-strapped families looking for a night’s entertainment.
— Jim Ridley