Chris Brookes on the need (or not) for narration

Chris Brookes Skyped in his workshop, "Oh, Shut Up! Who needs a narrator anyway?" Chris Brookes' radio features have have been broadcast around the world. He has directed and produced documentaries for Canadian network television, is a published author and playwright, and has taught radio storytelling at festivals and workshops across North America and Europe. Brookes, and the group, seemed to think that there always is a narrator (even when it is not the voice of God), and that the narrator should stand out of the way of the "action" as much as possible. He battled some Skype skipping, but was an engaging, uh, narrator. "Author" might be a better term, one audience member said. And the amount of narration depends on the context, whether it is a news report, or an artistic work.