(Molly Eichel, Philadelphia Daily News) EVERYONE IS a storyteller. When you go on a date, a job interview or chat with the guy standing next to you in the elevator, your daily conversations are made up of stories.

To local playwright R. Eric Thomas, this is why the First Person Arts Festival has thrived in Philadelphia. Its 10th-anniversary season begins Thursday.

“First Person . . . fills a common need to make people feel like they are a part of something bigger and to share their experience,” said Thomas, who started telling his own stories at First Person Arts events four years ago. He’ll debut his first one-man show, “Will You Accept This Friend Request?” at the festival next week.